Read the poem and answer the questions that follow:
Gulzaman’s Son
Keki N Daruwala
Climbing his tortuous way from Kanzalwan,
Gulzaman leaves the river,
buckwheat harvests and slopes dark with conifers.
His breath comes in a half-choked whistle,
the air uncertain whether to burst through the lungs
or whoosh out of the mouth.
He doesn’t remain with his people now,
among the sheepfolds and high-pasture huts.
They rag him, `Gulzaman, where is the son?
They’re not funny, these jibes at his virility.
So each sundown he leaves for the river to
sleep in a stone-breaker’spine-hut,
till at dawn, the sheep call him.
Gulzaman strains up the last hundred feet
to reach the fold. Expectant ewes seek shelter
from the wind under the lee of limestone walls.
He sees his kinsmen, bearded and gaunt and broad-boned as himself,
brooding over a dead kid. Rain starts hissing.
There has been such heavy sleet the week past
that in the sheepfolds new-borns have been dying.
With the mothers wind-weakened and fed on wet grass,
the lambs are still-born, flopping inert on the earth.
Ewes don’t even lick them and probe
for hidden embers of life with their raking tongues.
Broken, they turn on their sides like sacks of crushed ice.
The turf is sodden but his own fold is a small den
made snug by bales of hay.
His ewe snuggles up to him and bleats recognition,
a thin tremolo of love blanketed by gutturals of pain.
Relations crowd, darkening the doorway,
as with heavily-greased arms, Gulzaman examines her.
Yes, the lamb is on its way! An hour later it is there,
quavery-legged and wet and uncertain about its rickety,
four-pronged hold on the earth. Shortly it pees.
Allah is praised, now it will live.
It cannot die of a chill in the stomach.
Either the doorway has been cleared,
or clouds have been parted for an instant by the sun.
Gulzaman picks the dun-coloured lamb and holds it to his chest.
`This’, he says, ‘this is my son
Choose the correct alternatives from the options given below:
(a) His breath comes in a ‘half-choked whistle’ refers to the fact that
(i)the path taken by Gulzaman was very steep and tough to climb
(ii)Gulzaman was an old man
 (iii) Gulzaman was a sick man
(iv) Gulzaman could not breathe easily
(b) Gulzaman does not stay with his people because
(i) He prefers staying with his sheep
(ii) He prefers to stay alone
 (iii) His people mock and tease him about his childless state
(iv) His people make fun of his love for his animals
Answer the following questions briefly in your own words :Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â
(c) Why are Gulzaman’s kinsmen looking so tired and sad?
 (d) How has the weather affected the sheep?
(e) How is Gulzaman’s fold different from the other shepherds?
 (f) Why do the lambs not lick their newborn lamb?
 (g) How do we know that Gulzaman’s ewe loves her master?
(h) How does the poem end on a happy note?
 Find words from the passage which mean the same as each of the following
(i) teasing comments (line 5-10)
(j) throaty and rough sound (line 25-30)
ANSWERS:-
 (a) (i)
(b) (iii)
 (c) Gulzaman’s kinsmen are tired and sad because they are brooding over a dead kid.
(d) Due to the incessant rain, the sheep have nothing to eat except wet grass. This and the continuing wind have made them weak. This has resulted in the ewes giving birth to still-born lambs.
 (e) Gulzaman’s fold is different from those of the other shepherds’ because unlike their sodden ones, his fold is a den made snug and warm by bales of hay. This emphasizes the love Gulzaman feels for the animals under his care while he shuns the company of his fellow men.
 (f) The eyes have become so weak that after giving birth they turn on their sides like ‘sacks of crushed ice.’ This is why they do not even lick the young lambs to check if they are alive.
(g) The poet illustrates that the ewe loves her master because she snuggles up to him for comfort when she is in pain. While she is grunting with pain, she also calls to him with a ‘thin tremolo of love.’
(h) The poet says that Gulzaman is mocked by his kinsmen because he is childless. The poet also describes the weakened state of the flock: the sheep are weak and the new-born lambs are dying. However, when the poem ends, Gulzaman’s ewe has given birth to a healthy lamb and Gulzaman holds it to his chest and calls it his son. Hence, the poem can be said to end on a happy note.
(i) Jibes.
(j) Gutturals.
Download the above Poem in PDF Worksheet (Printable)
