Geography Lesson Poem

 Geography Lesson Poem 

Can you imagine what your city would look like if you saw it from ten thousand feet above the ground? Neatly planned and perfect in proportion like a geometric design, it would strike you as something very different from what it actually is while you are in the thick of it.

Here is a poet's description of just such a view of the city, and some questions  that come to his mind.

When the jet sprang into the sky,

it was clear why the city

had developed the way it had,

seeing it scaled six inches to the mile.

There seemed an inevitability

about what on ground had looked haphazard,

unplanned and without style

When the jet sprang into the sky.

When the jet reached ten thousand feet,

it was clear why the country

had cities where the rivers ran

and why the valleys were populated.

The logic of geography —

that land and water attracted man —

was clearly delineated

When the jet reached ten thousand feet.

When the jet rose six miles high,

it was clear the earth was round

and that it had more sea than land.

But it was difficult to understand

that the men on the earth found

causes to hate each other, to build

walls across cities and to kill.

From that height, it was not clear why.

-  ZULFIKAR  GHOSE

Geography Lesson Word Meaning

Jet - जेट विमान

sprang - उड़ान भरा उछला

Inevitable - that cannot be avoided, अनिवार्य महत्वपूर्ण

Haphazard - without plan or order, disorganized, बेतरतीब, अव्यवस्थित

Delineated -  shown, described, दिखना, वर्णन करना

Geography Lesson Summary in English

In this poem the poet describes how the city looks like if we see it from ten thousand feet above the ground.

The poet in the first stanza says that it looks unplanned and without order when the jet sprang into the sky

In the second stanza the poet says about the logic of geography that it looks that land and water attracted man. The cities and valleys populated where the rivers ran. When the jet reached ten thousand feet, it was clear.

In the third stanza the poet says that when the jet rose six miles high, it was clear that the earth was round and it had more sea than land.

In the fourth stanza the poet says that it was difficult to understand why the men found causes to hate each other and why the men build walls across cities and to kill. From that height the poet could not understand the reason.

Geography Lesson Summary in Hindi

इस कविता में कवि का वर्णन है कि शहर कैसा दिखता है अगर हम इसे जमीन से दस हजार फीट ऊपर से देखते हैं।

पहले श्लोक में कवि कहता है कि यह अनियोजित और बिना किसी क्रम के दिखता है जब जेट आकाश में उछला|

दूसरे श्लोक में कवि भूगोल के तर्क के बारे में कहते हैं कि ऐसा लगता है कि भूमि और पानी ने मनुष्य को आकर्षित किया। शहरों और घाटियों में आबादी है, जहां नदियां है। जब जेट दस हजार फीट तक पहुंच गया, तो यह स्पष्ट था।

तीसरे श्लोक में कवि कहता है कि जब जेट छह मील ऊँचा उठा, तो यह स्पष्ट था कि पृथ्वी गोल थी और उसके पास भूमि से अधिक समुद्र (पानी) था।

चौथे श्लोक में कवि कहता है कि यह समझना मुश्किल था कि मनुष्य ने एक-दूसरे से घृणा करने का कारण क्यों पाया और शहरों में दीवारें क्यों बनाते हैं, और एक-दूसरे को मारने के लिए क्यों तत्पर रहते हैं। । उस ऊँचाई से कवि इसका कारण नहीं समझ सका।

Geography Lesson Questions Answers

Working With the Poem

1.Find  three  or  four  phrases  in  stanzas  one  and  two  which  are  likely  to

occur in a geography lesson.

Ans. – i. scaled six inches to the mile

1. valleys were populated

iii. land and water attracted man.

2.Seen from the window of an aeroplane, the city appears

(i) as haphazard as on ground.

(ii) as neat as a map.

(iii) as developed as necessary.

Mark the right answer

Ans. - (iii) as developed as necessary.

3. Which of the following statements are examples of “the logic of geography”?

(i) There are cities where there are rivers.

(ii) Cities appear as they are not from six miles above the ground.

 (iii) It is easy to understand why valleys are populated.

 (iv) It is difficult to understand why humans hate and kill one another

 (v) The earth is round, and it has more sea than land.

Ans. – The following statements are examples of “the logic of geography" -

(i) There are cities where there are rivers

(iii) It is easy to understand why valleys are populated.

(v) The earth is round, and it has more sea than land.

4. Mention two things that are -

(i) clear from the height.

Ans. - the earth was round and that it had more sea than land.

(ii) not clear  from the height.

Ans. - why the men found causes to hate each other and why the men build walls across cities and to kill.