question_answer 8)

Read Source D. What does the poem communicate about the opportunities and experience for each new generation?  

Source D The Many Sides of Bombay My father came down the Sahyadris A quilt over his shoulder He stood at your doorstep With nothing but his labour              …… I carried a tiffin box To the mill since childhood I was cast the way A smith forges a hammer                                                     The verses of this poem are a stark contrast to the glittering  world of films, pointing to the  endless toil which new  migrants encounter in the city. I learned my ropes Working on a loom Learnt on occasion To go on strike                              My father withered away toiling So will I, and will my little ones Perhaps they too face such sad nights Wrapped in coils of darkness Excerpted from the poem Maze Vidyapeeth (1975) by Narayan  Surve.

 

Answer:

The poem communicates the endless toil that migrants have to go through when they come to the city. They sell their labour while living in very difficult conditions. It talks about one such worker who worked as a labourer all his life and now his child is also working as a labourer. He knows that like his father and himself, his child will also work in the same conditions, and also his child's child. He had come to the city with the hope of many opportunities for improvement in his life, but his experience has been otherwise.   The poem depicts the misery and alienation of migrant labour and the lack of opportunities available to them for development.