A. STATE WHETEHE THESE STATEMENTS ARE TRUE (T) OR FALSE (F).
1. The poem is set in South Africa.
2. One child in five was at risk of death in the village.
3. The woman had gone to a nearby well to bring water for the thirsty people in her village.
4. The plants and trees had shrivelled and were unable to survive in the parched earth.
5. The drought occurred due to the absence of rains.
6. The drought hit the village a year ago.
ANSWERS
1. The poem is set in South Africa. (T)
2. One child in five was at risk of death in the village. (F)
3. The woman had gone to a nearby well to bring water for the thirsty people in her village. (F)
4. The plants and trees had shrivelled and were unable to survive in the parched earth. (T)
5. The drought occurred due to the absence of rains. (F)
6. The drought hit the village a year ago. (T)
B. ANSWER THESE QUESTIONS.
1. Why had life become tough for the women of Ekuvukeni, in Natal, South Africa?
Life become tough for the women because after a year of drought there is no water and they go distant place to bring water.
2. What were the dreadful effects of the problem of the people who lived there?
Every one child in three is at risk of death there. Pumpkins are gone, tomatoes withered, goats gaunt and no milk for the children.
3. Why did this situation arise in this village?
Because there is scarcity of water in this village.
4. What were the challenges the woman faced as she went to bring water for her people?
She leaves her children alone at home as she goes to distant place to bring water. She walks carrying water on her head all alone through the dusty roads.
C. THINK AND ANSWER.
1. The engineers have reversed the river: Explain the meaning of the line.
There must be a water reservoir somewhere. Hence the engineers diverted the flow of water, leaving the village lack of water now.
2. those with power can keep their power,
Here the word ‘power’ has been repeated but it has two different meanings.
State the two meanings.
The meaning of power is the people with influence can for the nature’s resources and power under their control. Thus there is kind of monopoly of power and resources by the powerful people.
3. How has the poet brought out the despair of the people without water?
Quote the lines from the poem.
The poet depicts some of the pictures such as, ‘no milk for the children’, carrying water in a huge and dirty pail’ due to shortage of water, ‘what they need now between life and death; she is carrying them water on her head.’ These pictures tells us the severity of the challenges people facing.
4. Why is her pail huge, dirty and with an idle handle?
Her pail is huge because she wants to bring as much as water she could bring. It is difficult to find water and when it is found, pail must be filled to it brim. It is dirty, as there is no water to clean it; handle idle as the pail is being carried on her head.
5. This woman, who girds her neck/ with safety pins… Explain the significance of the words, ‘girds’ and ‘safety pins’ in this line.
Girds her neck is an expression to indicate to get ready with hard work; with safety pins suggest the idea of preparedness for the long walk with the pail on her head. Thus, she is ready to walk a long distance through the parched and dusty road with water on her head.
6. Why is the title of the poem an appropriate one?
When a load is huge, people either carry them on their shoulder or on head. In this poem we find people the woman carrying a pail of water on her head. She is walking through many difficulties and hardships; yet she is walking ignoring them all. What really matters her is to reach home, carrying her people the pail of water on her head. All through the poem this message is vivid, hence the poem is titled as ‘her head’.
7. The poet hints at a conflict that must have arisen between the local people and the developers of the land. Write a paragraph about what might have happened when the local people came to know of the plan of the engineers and understood its long-term implications.
Watch this video in the following and answer this question on your own.
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D. READ THESE LINES FROM THE POEM AND ANSWER THE QUESTIONS THAT FOLLOW.
one woman trusts herself with treasure, / and carries water on her head.
a. Why has the poet used the phrase ‘trusts herself’?
It is the woman herself carrying water on her head. Most probably she also did the same earlier and thus she could trust only herself walking such a long distant with water on her head.
b. What ‘treasure’ has been referred to there?
Treasure refers to water capable of saving her people.
E. DISCUSS IN CLASS.
The woman described here is an epitome of courage, sacrifice and determination with a will of steel. What she does is s small miracle to ensure the survival of her family. Discuss.
In this poem this woman is a symbol of life. After a year of drought there is scarcity in her village and now, they have to choose an option between life and death. When plants are withering, animals are suffering; this woman is firm to save her family and walks the long dry and dusty roads with a huge pail of water on her head. With all the risk of death, she has left her family far back at home. What she needs is water to save her family. Let anything happen she is determined with the will of steel, that she will save her family.
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