ARUNODAYA PUBLIC SCHOOL, THANE

UNIT 1 SECTION C : (POEM) TOOMAI OF THE ELEPHANTS

Class: VI Subject: English Date:

INTRODUCTION

Little Toomai is a fearless boy whose father—and grandfather before him—is an

elephant driver for the government. Little Toomai knows Kala Nag, his father's old
elephant, fears him and will always follow his orders. Big Toomai wants Little Toomai
to grow up and be an elephant driver, too, because it is less dangerous and the
government supplies a pension. However, Little Toomai loves the jungle and
excitement of capturing wild elephants.
During a hunt Little Toomai slips down to the ground between two big elephants and
ropes a wild elephant. Kala Nag lifts him up by the trunk, only to have Little Toomai get
a talking-to from his father. His father doesn't want Petersen Sahib, the white man who
runs the elephant-catching drives, to make Little Toomai become an elephant catcher.
Petersen Sahib is impressed with his ability to rope an elephant but knows it's too
dangerous for a little boy. Petersen Sahib tells Little Toomai he can go into the Keddahs,
the elephant roundups, when he sees "the elephants dance," which means never,
because no man has ever seen this ritual.
The same night elephant-hunting season ends, Kala Nag escapes, taking Little Toomai
with him. Across elephant camps near and far, other elephants break their chains and
pull up the posts they are tied to, and they all head for a secret spot in the jungle. Little
Toomai, lying flat on Kala Nag's back, witnesses the secret elephant dance, as all of the
elephants, wild and tame, gather together to circle around and stomp in unison.
The next morning Little Toomai and Kala Nag follow Pudmini, Petersen Sahib's
elephant, to his camp. Little Toomai is so tired he slips off Kala Nag in front of Petersen
Sahib and collapses, but not before he tells him he has seen the elephant dance. Machua
Appa, the head tracker, and Petersen Sahib follow the elephants' footprints into the
jungle, so they know Little Toomai has told the truth. They honor him by renaming him
Toomai of the Elephants and allowing him to join the hunters. Although Big Toomai is
horrified his son escaped in the night to follow the elephants, he has no choice but to
accept the great honor bestowed upon Little Toomai.

INTERPRETING THE POEM

A. Answer these questions:
Q1. Where do you think this elephant is? Where does it wish to go?
Ans. The elephant is in captivity where it is made to work for food and tortured to
obey. It wishes to escape to its home in the wild.

Q2. I will remember my old strength and all my forest-affairs. What do ‘old
strength’ and ‘forest affairs’ refer to?
Ans. ‘Old strength’ refers to the strength of his freedom. ‘Forest-affairs’ refers to the
free life in the wild.

Q3. Out of the winds’ untainted kiss, the water’s clean caress. Explain the
meaning of this line.
Ans. ‘Out to the winds’ untainted kiss, the waters’ clean caress’ refers to the elephant’s
free life when he would feel the breeze on his skin and bathe happily in the clean
waters that refreshed him.

Q4. What has the elephant been doing for it’s human masters?
Ans. The elephant has been enslaved to carry load on its back for its human masters.

B. Think and Answer:

Q1. In your opinion, how does this elephant feel about his master?
Ans. The elephant wishes to be free from the enslaved life, the ankle chain and the
sharp picket-stake that his master uses on him. He also does not wish to sell his back
for a bundle of sugarcane.

Q2. What does the elephant feel about it’s earlier days in the jungle? What would
it remember the most?
Ans. He reminisces his own kind, the free air and the calming waters of the jungle. He
remembers his lost loves and playmates.
C. Discuss is class:
Q1. (Value Based – Personal Opinion)

Rhyme Scheme Of The Poem:

I will remember what I was. I am sick of rope and chain---- a
I will remember my old strength and all my forest affairs. b
I will not sell my back to man for a bundle of sugarcane. a
I will go out to my own kind, and the wood – folk in their lairs. b

Figures of Speech:
1. Repetition: It is a literary device in which a word or phrase is repeated two or
more times.
Lines from the poem: a) I will remember what I was. I am sick of rope and chain
b) I will remember my old strength and all my forest affairs

2. Personification: Personification is a figure of speech in which an idea or thing

is given human attributes and/or feelings or is spoken of as if it were human.
Line from the poem: a) Out to the winds’ untainted kiss, the waters’ clean caress.

3. Alliteration: It is a stylistic device in which a number of words, having the

same first consonant sound, occur close together in a series.
Line from the poem: a) I will revisit my lost loves, and playmates masterless!