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The wind who roves from place to place,
Undisciplined, unschooled,
Tonight, at least, shall hide his face:
I saw him being fooled.
He rushed into a beggar’s hut,
The vagabonding scamp,
To tamper with his clay-lamp, but
The beggar had no lamp!
Ah fool! You might extinguish then
The very moon and sun,
But not the lamps of beggar-men
roves: wanders
Since, most of them have none! vagabond(ing): wandering about aimlessly
scamp: a mischievous yet likeable child
—Harindranath Chattopadhyay
About the Poet
Harindranath Chattopadhyay (1898–1990) was a poet, dramatist, actor, musician and a member of the first
Lok Sabha. He was also the younger brother of another great poet and freedom fighter, Sarojini Naidu. His
poems for children are filled with fun and energy. Among the other delightful poems that he wrote is ‘The
Train’ which the poet wrote in Hindi as Rail Gaadi.
Revisit the poem and write the correct stanza number against the central idea of
each stanza of the poem.
Central ideas Stanza no.
Describes how the wind’s plan to play a trick on a poor person failed
Describes the uncaring and irresponsible attitude of the wind
Mentions the unsuccessful attempt of the wind’s prank
Describes the wind as a young and troublesome boy
Mocks the inability of the wind to succeed in tricking a poor person
Describes the wind’s harmful and dangerous actions
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