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Where the Mind is Without Fear ICSE Class 10 Where the mind is Without Fear by Rabindranath Tagore is one of his vastly read and discussed poems. It was originally composed in Bengali possibly in 1900 under the title Prarthana , meaning prayer. It appeared in the volume called Naibedya in 1901. Later in 1911 Tagore himself translated the Bengali poem into English and that translation appeared as poem 35 in his Nobel winning anthology Gitanjali (Song Offerings) published by the Indian Society, London in 1912. So when the poem was written, India was under the British Rule and people were eagerly waiting to get their freedom from the British Rule. The poem is written in the form of a prayer to the God, the Almighty for a true freedom for his country. And thus Tagore reveals his own concept of freedom throughout the poem, Where the Mind is Without Fear. Explanation Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high; In the very first line, the poet prays to the Almighty that his countrymen should be free from any fear of oppression or forced compulsion. He wishes that everyone in his country has his head held high in dignity. In other words, according to him, in a truly free country every person should be fearless and should have a sense of self dignity. Where knowledge is free; In the second line of Where the Mind is Without Fear the poet dreams of a nation where knowledge would be free. Education should not be restricted to the upper class only but everybody should be allowed to acquire knowledge. Not only that, the children should learn freely from the nature and the world around them. They should not be forced memorize some predetermined lessons. And this is Tagore s typical concept of education. Where the world has not been broken up into fragments By narrow domestic walls; In the next two lines, the poet emphasizes the unity of not only of his countrymen but also of the entire world. He thinks there should be no division among people based on their caste, creed, color, religion or other baseless superstitions. In other words, prejudices and superstitions should not divide the people in groups and break their unity. Where words come out from the depth of truth; In line 5 of Where the Mind is Without Fear, Tagore wants a nation where people are truthful. They should not be superficial and words should come out from the depth of their hearts. Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection; In the sixth line of the poem, the poet wants everyone to work hard to reach their goal, and in the long run to reach perfection. . He thinks they should not be tired by working. People should not be lazy and ignoring their work. Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way Into the dreary desert sand of dead habits; In line 7, the poet compares reason or logical thinking to a clear stream and in the next line compares dead habits or superstitious beliefs to a dreary desert . He wants the stream of reason not to lose its way into the desert of prejudices. In short, people s thought should be monitored by rational thinking, not by superstition; logic should rule over old baseless beliefs. Where the mind is led forward by thee Into ever-widening thought and action; In line 9 and 10 the poet wishes his countrymen to be progressive and broad-minded. He wants that their minds are led forward to ever-widening thought and action by the Almighty. In short, we should be open-minded and do something unusual or extraordinary, overcoming the narrowness of mind. Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake In the final line of the poem, the poet addresses the God as Father . He asks him to awaken his country into such a heaven of freedom where the above conditions meet. To make it clear, the poet prays to the Almighty (my Father) to raise or lift (awake) his country to such heights where freedom would be realised at its best (a heaven of freedom). In turn, he is actually praying that God awakens his countrymen so that they come out from the darkness of ignorance, prejudices, disunity and all other evils. In the poem the poet s message is very clear. If all the people of a nation are not wise enough to lead a happy and peaceful life free from all evils, they cannot enjoy their freedom well. So to the poet, only political freedom is not so important unless you are fearless, self dignified, knowledgeable, truthful, hard-working and broad-minded enough to enjoy it fully. Questions and answers: 1. Where is the poem taken from? The poem Where the Mind is Without Fear is taken from Rabindranath Tagore s Nobel-winning anthology Gitanjali (Song Offerings) published in 1912 from London. 2. Explain referring to context: Where knowledge is free . Firstly, in Where Knowledge is Free the poet means to say that in a truly independent and free country knowledge should be open to all. Everyone should have free access to knowledge. It should not be restricted to some portion of the society based on their class, caste, gender or any other barrier. Secondly, children should not be forced to learn something. They should be given the freedom to choose what they learn, when they learn and how they learn. Real knowledge comes freely from Nature itself. We get that from the world around us, from our experiences. This is Tagore s view of knowledge. 3. What does the poet compare reason and dead habits to? In the poem Where the Mind is Without Fear, the poet compares reason to a clear stream and dead habits to a dry desert. 4. What is meant by dead habits ? In the poem dead habits mean the old superstitious beliefs and deeds that are no longer reasonable. The habits are dead because we don t need them anymore. 5. Explain: Where the clear habits . See the explanation under the two lines in the line-by-line explanation here. Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way Into the dreary desert sand of dead habits; 6. What does the poet mean by head is held high and ever-widening thought and action ? Head is held high indicates that we should not be ashamed of ourselves. Rather we should be proud of our country, for what we have. A sense of self-dignity is what we need to enjoy our freedom fully. Ever widening thought and action means that we should not be narrow or shallow in our mentality. People should have a broad mind and a broad heart. They should enrich their thinking day by day. We should also better our works gradually. In short, we should develop ourselves to become a better thinker and a more efficient performer. 7. What is narrow domestic walls ? Narrow domestic walls are the barriers of class, caste, creed, colour, religion and other elements that divide people from one another. In most cases they are baseless superstitious beliefs that are good for nothing. 8. Who is referred to as thee (you) and my Father ? In the poem The God is referred to as thee and my Father by the poet. The poem is actually a prayer to the Almighty to give his country real freedom. 9. Name the qualities the poet wishes to see in his countrymen in the poem Where the Mind is Without Fear . The qualities that the poet wants to see in his countrymen are fearlessness, self dignity, knowledge, truthfulness, diligence, rationality and a broad-mind. These qualities are required if they are to enjoy their country s freedom to the fullest. 10. Comment on the form and style of the poem. Is the poem Where the Mind is Without Fear a sonnet? The poem is written in free verse. Indeed, no rhyme scheme or no particular metre is followed in writing the poem. Some students ask whether the poem is a sonnet. In that case, the clear answer is No . But you should also know that the original Bengali version of the poem was in the form of a sonnet. But the English poem has a special form. The whole poem is only a single complex sentence. Only one main clause at the end and several subordinate clauses beginning with where . 11. What is the poet s concept of true freedom? or, What is the heaven of freedom according to the poet? According to the poet, to make our country a heaven f freedom, the people should be fearless, knowledgeable, truthful, rational, hard-working and broad-minded. [Elaborate it yourself after reading the line-by line explanation.] 12.What was the poet s purpose of writing the poem? / What is the poet s vision in this poem? Tagore felt sorry that his fellow countrymen were not good enough to enjoy the freedom, even if they would get that. They were afraid of the British suppression. They did not have the sense of self-dignity. Most were ignorant, lazy and superstitious. The class and caste system kept the people away from one another. So, the poet wanted to express his feelings and thoughts by praying to the Almighty (God) for the good of his countrymen. He wanted people to come out from the darkness of all evils. His vision was to see his country as a heaven of freedom where people are knowledgeable, truthful, rational, broadminded, fearless and hardworking. 13. What does the poet mean by let my country awake ? /In what ways does the poet wish his country to awake? By saying let my country awake , the poet prays to the Almighty (my Father) to raise or lift (awake) his country to such heights where freedom would be realized at its best (a heaven of freedom). The poet wishes that his countrymen become fearless, gain knowledge and self-dignity, become truthful, hardworking, broadminded and logical in order to raise or awaken the whole country. In short, to make a country awake, we need to make its people awake. 14. Do you agree with the poet when he states that our aim of life should be realization of truth? / Why does the poet feel that the words should come out from the depth of truth? Yes, I agree with the poet s idea regarding truth. In fact, truth should prevail over anything and everything. The poet feels that his countrymen should speak the utmost truth because that is one of the essential qualities of a progressive nation. If they are not good at heart, how can they lead a happy and peaceful life? So, even if the political freedom is allowed to them, they cannot enjoy it fully. 15. In What Ways are the narrow domestic walls harmful to a nation? Need more explanation. Narrow domestic walls are the barriers that people have deliberately created to divide men according to their religion, color, caste, class and so on. These divisions breaks people s unity. These often lead to chaotic situations and riots. Law and order is disturbed. Peace of mind is lost. And most importantly, the productivity and progress of a nation can be slowed down or halted. Moreover, external forces may take these as their opportunity and attack that nation. So, these are always harmful for a nation. 16. why is reason compared to a clear stream? Reason or logical thinking is the thing that makes a nation progressive. On the other hand, dead habits (superstitions) make a nation stagnant. Logical thinking helps us take new decisions and accept changes instead of sticking to some age-old ideas. That is why reason is compared to a clear stream that can wash out any stagnant object on its way. 17. Does head held high mean that the heads of the countrymen are held low? If so why should the head be held high? Yes, that can be said. In the British India the poet was sad to see that most people had no sense of self-dignity. And they were rather happy to serve the British and take the due advantages. So the poet wanted every Indian to be proud of his country. If people have no sense of self-dignity, they would easily yield to others. And the British force took that opportunity to rule over them. So, the poet realized that every head should be held high in order to be free from external forces. 18. According to Tagore, What all is lacking in his countrymen? According to Tagore, his countrymen lack some important qualities of character, namely fearlessness, self dignity, knowledge, truthfulness, diligence, rationality and a broad-mind. 19. Do you think the poet s wish has been fulfilled? Give two reasons for your answer. / Is the dream of the poet realized ? if so how? if not why? Yes, he poet s wish has been fulfilled partially. The people are now fearless and not under any external rule. Moreover, they have gained knowledge and the sense of self-dignity. But everything Tagore wished is not fulfilled yet. The barriers of religion and caste are not yet gone. Though these are much lower in number today, superstitions are still present in some places. It s difficult to pin-point why his dreams are not realized fully. For such a big nation like India, or for the whole world, it s not easy to remove all the social evils by a short notice. The large variety in language and religious faith, poverty, illiteracy and poor governance may be noted as some of the possible reasons. Hopefully, it s just a matter or time before those are curbed to a marginal line. 20. Mention few domestic artificial walls and divisions present in our country. Certainly, there are many. The divisions created based on religions, caste systems, social and economic positions and even different languages are all domestic walls still present in our country. 21. How / when does the clear stream of reason lose its way? Reason or logical thinking is compared to a clear stream. But it can lose its way when it faces the challenges of age-old superstitions (compared to a dreary desert) and yield to those. We are often guided by our old beliefs. But the poet wants just the opposite. In short, the poet wishes that logic rules and wins over old habits. 22. How is the poem relevant to life in the present? Tagore s poem Where the Mind is Without Fear has passed more than a century, but it is still equally relevant. The qualities that the poet has talked about in the poem are indeed universal. We do need to achieve those to live a happy and peaceful life. Unless you are knowledgeable, rational, truthful, broad-minded, hardworking and fearless, you cannot get success in life and live a happy life. We have achieved only political freedom, but we haven t been able to realize that freedom fully. Still there are the curses of superstitions, caste system, disunity, illiteracy and so on. So, this poem has not lost its relevance even now. 23. What happens when the mind is without fear ? Is fearless society a just society? When the mind is without fear, people don t surrender to external forces and fight for their freedom. It is really difficult to say whether a fearless society would be a just society. It may be so only if people are fearless in its true sense having the courage to protest against and protect themselves from the evil forces. They should not be overconfident or disrespectful to others. Thus a fearless society can be a just society. 24. Bring out the elements of patriotism in this poem. Rabindranath Tagore was a great patriot and in his poem Where the Mind is Without Fear we find the elements of his patriotism. First of all, the poem is concerned with his country and countrymen. The poet is thoughtful of what qualities his countrymen are lacking to enjoy a satisfying freedom. The poet is praying to the God to let his country awake to a heaven of freedom. All these clearly show his concern and love for the country, i.e., India. 25. Is this poem a prayer for India alone? how can you tell? The poem was primarily meant for India, no doubt. The poet prays for his country to raise it to a heaven of freedom , as it was still under the rule of external forces. Moreover, people were ignorant, shallow-minded, lazy, opportunistic and superstitious. So the poet was sad to think of his countrymen and expressed his concern in this poem in the form of a prayer to the God. But as a work of art, the poem should be and now is interpreted with a wider approach. The poet has talked about the evils of human society that are prevalent more or less all over the world. So, this should be seen as a prayer for the good of entire humanity. 26. Where the mind is without fear What fear does the poet want to abolish and why was there a fear among people? Here fear is synonymous with lack of confidence. The poet wants his countrymen to gain confidence, to believe that they can do wonders. He wants them to realize that they can achieve their freedom from the hands of the British. Not only that, they should have faith in their potential to excel in every field of life. A kind of fear existed probably because they were under the governance of an external force. Moreover, the countrymen were mostly illiterate and poverty engulfed the nation. That is why the lack of confidence was very natural. 27. How does dead habit obstruct the realization of freedom? Freedom is all about living a happy and peaceful life, without any unwanted restrictions. So, a free nation should progress at a good speed towards modern civilization. But dead habits or the prejudices don t promote free thinking, thereby curbing your possibility to do something unusual or extraordinary, to excel in your life. You may feel restricted every now and then. Therefore, these dead habits are great hindrance to the development process of a nation. In such a situation, real freedom cannot be achieved or realized. 28. How can we get rid of narrow domestic walls? The most effective way to get rid of them is to give people proper education. Otherwise they cannot realize that they need to live together to lead a happy and peaceful life. Only education, in its truest sense, can make people understand that the divisions among people are baseless and good for nothing. Moreover, what makes these walls persist is the dirty politics all over the world. We have seen world leaders to play with people s sentiments merely to get some political mileage. These things must come to an end to make the magic happen at all. Moreover, the Governments should take actions like organizing fairs or exhibitions to promote communal and cross-section harmony. 29. Why does the poet want freedom for his country? The poet wished his country to get freedom from the hands of the British rulers. The external rulers were here to fulfill their own cause. So they didn t care about the sufferings and poor governance his countrymen received. Their poverty, illiteracy, malnutrition and all other kinds of agony grieved the poet. He was concerned about the progress of the nation. And he knew that only a free country can be progressive. So, in short, it is the poet s patriotic and humanitarian nature that made him think about the freedom of the country. 30. Why are dead habits compared to desert sand? Dead habits are compared to desert sands because these superstitious beliefs block the way of progressive thoughts, just as a desert can block the way of a clear stream. Dead habits are as choking as the desert for something fresh and progressive.
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