Treasure Trove Poems Workbook Answers The Bangle Sellers
The Bangle Sellers Questions and Answers Extract Based
Question 1.
Bangle sellers are we who bear
Our shining loads to the temple fair…
Who will buy these delicate, bright Rainbow-tinted circles of light?
Lustrous tokens of radiant lives,
For happy daughters and happy wives.
(a) For what purpose do the bangle sellers go to the temple fair?
(b) What does the phrase ‘shining loads’ refer to ?
(c) Who is the speaker in the above extract ? What is lines of the extract ?
(d) Explain the following lines :
‘Lustrous token of radiant lives,
For happy daughter and happy wives.’
(e) What is the main theme of the poem ? What does each colour or type of the bangles represent ?
(f) What is importance of colours in human life ? Why has the imagery ‘rainbow- tinted’ bangles been used ?
(g) Which figure of speech has the poetess used in the extract ? Give instances.
Answer.
(a) The bangle sellers go to the temple fair to sell the colourful and shining bangles to those girls and women who come to see the fair and are greatly fascinated and tempted to buy the bangles for different occasions. By selling the bangles, the sellers want to earn their livelihood to provide with their family.
(b) The phrase ‘shining loads’ refers to the load of the colourful bangles which the sellers carry to the temple fair without showing any signs of unhappiness and tiredness. The phrase also shows the hardships and sufferings which the bangle seller bear in their lives, but while selling the bangles they are seen in great enthusiasm and they call their buyers in a joyful voice and present their wares to them as symbols of happiness.
(c) The speaker is one of the group of bangle sellers going to a temple fair to sell their bangles. In the first two lines the life of the poor bangle sellers carrying the load of shining bangles is made clear.
(d) The bangles are symbols of happy lives. They are meant for happy virgins and happy married women. The daughters who expect to be married soon wear bangles to express their happy longings. The wives who wear bangles express their happiness and contentment in their marital life.
(e) The main theme of the poem is that the bangles are a part and parcel of a woman’s life in India. Each colour or type of the bangles represents each stage in woman’s life. Silver and blue or pink represent the stage of maidenhood. Yellow, fiery red are representatives of the girls wedding. Gold and grey colours represent motherhood and matriarchy.
(f) Colours represent various moods and aspects of life. They are a powerful means to express human feelings. The imagery of ‘rainbow-tinted’ bangles has been used to refer to multicoloured bangles pointing towards different directions of hopes, dreams, youthfulness and aspirations of a woman.
(g) The poetess has used the figure of speech metaphor in the extract. For instance, the bangles are considered as ‘Rainbow-tinted circles of light’ and ‘Lustrous tokens’ of radiant lives.
Question 2.
Some are meet for a maiden’s wrist,
Silver and blue as the mountain mist,
Some are flushed like the buds that dream
On the tranquil brow of a woodland stream,
Some are aglow with the bloom that cleaves
To the limpid glory of new born leaves.
(a) In what way has each stage of an Indian wife’s life been described ? Why is the wearing of bangles considered to be very auspicious ?
(b) What is the significant factor about the bangle seller in the poem ?
(c) Which bangles does the poetess think suitable for the maidens ? What figure of speech has been used in the following line: ‘Silver and blue as the mountain mist. ’
(d) Explain the following lines :
‘Some are meant for a maiden’s wrist,
Silver and blue as the mountain mist.”
(e) What does the word ‘bud’ suggest here ? What image do the following words ‘buds that dream’ present before us ? How have the green bangles been compared ?
(f) For what does the word ‘Some’ stand ? Why has the word ‘Some’ been repeated in the poem ?
Answer.
(a) Each stage of an Indian woman’s life has been described according to the colour of bangles suitable at that stage from a dreamy maiden to an excited bride and finally to a mature matriarch. The bangles are of great religious and symbolic importance. No Indian widow is permitted to wear the bangles. Hence the wearing of bangles is considered to be very auspicious and of great symbolic value for married women and aspiring brides.
(b) In the poem, the significant factor is that the bangle seller does not say a word about his poverty, nor does he say anything about the profit or loss, his focus is only on the human element associated to bangles. By calling his buyers in a joyous voice, he presents his wares in a very enthusiastic way.
(c) The poetess thinks that silver and blue coloured bangles are suitable for the maidens. Figure of speech simile has been used in the line given above. Here the the colour of bangle is compared to the mist of the mountain.
(d) In these lines, the narrator says that some bangles are meant for the wrist of unmarried woman which are silver and blue in colour like the mountain covered under the mist.
(e) The word ‘bud’ here is suggestive of chastity. ‘Buds that dream’ present before us an image of young girls dreaming of marriage and nourishing many aspirations in their hearts. The green bangles have been compared to the new born leaves. Some of the bangles glow like newborn leaves, owing to the dew and water from the stream.
(f) The word ‘Some’ refers to the shining loads of bangles that the bangle sellers carry to the temple fair. The word ‘Some’ has been repeated in the poem for the purpose of showing different types of bangles.
Question 3.
Some are like fields of sunlit com,
Meet for a bride on her bridal mom,
Some, like the flame of her marriage fire,
Or, rich with the hue of her heart’s desire,
Tinkling, luminous, tender, and clear,
Like her bridal laughter and bridal tear.
(a) What idea does the poetess present in the poem ? Or with which thing is the poem associated ?
(b) On what occasions do the Indian women wear the bangles ? What do the colours of the bangles represent ?
(c) For what does the word ‘Some’ stand ? Why has this word been repeated in the poem ?
(d) In what way have the bangles been described in the first stanza of the poem and who are these for ?
(e) Which colour is suitable for a bride on bridal morning ? What do the red coloured bangles symbolise ?
(f) Describe the adjectives used by the poetess to describe the bangles. How are the adjectives compared ?
(g) When do the red coloured bangles suit the hands of a bride ? Why does a bride laugh and shed tears ? Which figure of speech has the poetess used in the line : ‘Some, like the flame of marriage fire ? Also explain it.
Answer.
(a) The poem “The Bangle sellers” is associated with bangles and the implementation of roles assigned to a woman in a traditional Indian society. The poetess makes strong connections between the bangles and their role in giving happiness to daughters, wives and mothers.
(b) In India, on the occasions of various festivals and religious ceremonies women buy bangles. The colours of the bangles represent the stages in a woman’s life and also express the feeling of woman. They are not just a series of beautiful imagery, but a symbolic representation of the various stages in the life of a typical Indian woman.
(c) The word ‘Some’ refers to the shining loads of bangles that the bangle sellers carry to the temple fair. This word has been repeated in the poem for the purpose of showing different types of bangles.
(d) In the first stanza of the poem, the bangles have been described as delicate, bright, rainbow-tinted and lustrous token of radiant lives. These bangles are for happy daughters and happy wives.
(e) Yellow bangles which look like the corn fields, are suitable for a bride on her marriage morning. Some of the bangles are of bright red. They represent the flame of a newly turned bride’s marriage fire, that is, the passion of her newly made relation.
(f) The poetess has used four adjectives to describe the bangles : tinkling, luminous, tender and clear. These adjectives are then compared to bridal laughter and tear. A bride is both happy and a sad woman as she is looking forward to her life with the life partner (her husband) and therefore the ‘laughter’ and also sad and tearful as she has to depart from her parents’ abode and go to her husband’s home.
(g) During the process of wedding, the red coloured bangles suit the hands of a bride. A bride laughs because she is getting married and sheds tears because she is going to leave her parental abode. The poetess uses simile in the line given above. She compares the red bangles to the flame of marriage fire— that is the colour of fire around which the couple takes marital vows according to the Hindu rituals of marriage.
4. Some are purple and gold flecked grey
For she who has journeyed through life midway,
Whose hands have cherished, whose love has blest,
And cradled fair sons on her faithful breast,
And serves her household in fruitful pride,
And worships the gods at her husband’s side.
(a) Where are the bangle sellers going and why ? What are they carrying ? In what mood are the bangle sellers seen ?
(b) How is each stage of an Indian woman’s life described ?
(c) What does the poetess portray in the poem ? What does she think about the bangle seller ?
(d) What sort of bangles suit the hands of a middle aged women ? What do the purple and gold flecked grey colours symbolise ?
(e) How many stages of a woman are linked with the bangles ? In the final extract, what discrimination between man and woman has been shown by the poetess ?
(f) What fulfils the life of an Indian wife and mother ? What does the poetess try to show by using the words ‘fair-sons’ ?
Answer.
(a) The bangle sellers are going to a temple fair to sell the bangles so that they might be able to earn some money. They are carrying a load of colourful shining bangles. They are seen in joyous mood while selling the bangle to the people.
(b) Each stage of an Indian woman’s life is described according to the colour of bangles suitable at that stage from a dreamy maiden to an excited bride and finally to a mature matriarch.
(c) The poetess not only portrays the life of a traditional Indian woman but also portrays the life of the bangle seller. The bangle seller uses a joyful voice and presents his shining wares as symbols of happiness and prosperity. The heaviness of the bangles is the only reference made to the hardships and poverty of the bangle sellers.
(d) A middle aged woman chooses to wear the purple and grey coloured bangles having a touch of gold colour. Purple is a colour which indicates power, authority, pride and dignity and gold flecked grey is more of sober colour which indicates experience and wisdom. The woman wearing purple bangles has gained maturity, reared all her children with love and at last has achieved the fullness of her role as wife and mother.
(e) Three stages-virgin, bride, middle-aged woman have been linked with the bangles. In the final extract, the woman has been presented as tender, weak, helpless and dependent. Man, as father, husband and son determines her life and fate.
(f) Rearing her sons, serving her family and sharing the proud place of being by the side of her husband at religious rituals fulfil the life of an Indian wife and mother. By using the words ‘fair sons’ the poetess tries to show the gender discrimination in Indian families.
Treasure Trove Poems and Short Stories Workbook Answers