The Magical Earth
An Interactive Guide by Gulzar
Poem Text
There is something indeed in the earth of my garden
Is this earth magical?
The earth knows how to do magic!
If I sow a guava seed, it gives me guavas
If I put in a jamun kernel, it gives me jamuns
A bitter gourd for a bitter gourd, a lemon for a lemon!
If I ask for a flower, it gives me pink flowers
Whatever colour I give to it, it returns that to me
Has it hidden all these colours in the soil below?
I dug a lot but found nothing
The earth knows how to do magic!
The earth knows how to do magic
It shows so many tricks
When it balances these long coconut trees on its fingers
It does not even let them fall!
The wind does its best, but the earth does not let them fumble!
A sherbet, or milk, or water
Anything may fall, it absorbs them all
How much water does it drink?!
It gulps down whatever you give
Be it from a jug or a bucket
Amazingly, its stomach never fills
I have heard that it can even hide a river inside!
The earth knows how to do magic!
Are there sugar godowns under the earth?
Or rocks of lime?
How does this earth put sweetness into fruits?
From where does it get all this?
Pomegranates, plums and mangoes—in all of them
Sweetness, but different kinds
The leaves tasteless but the fruits sweet
The musambi sweet, the lemon sour
Undoubtedly, it knows magic!
Otherwise, why is the bamboo tasteless,
and the sugarcane sweet?
Difficult Words with Definitions
Magical: Having special, mysterious, or supernatural qualities.
Kernel: The inner, softer part of a seed, nut, or fruit stone.
Fumble: To handle something clumsily.
Sherbet: A sweet flavoured drink.
Absorb: To soak up or take in a liquid or substance.
Godowns: Warehouses or storage places, especially in South Asia.
Musambi: Sweet lime, a citrus fruit.
Undoubtedly: Without doubt; certainly.
Summary of "The Magical Earth"
In "The Magical Earth," Gulzar expresses a childlike wonder at the mysterious and magical qualities of the earth. He observes how the earth acts like a magician, transforming seeds into their corresponding plants and fruits—a guava seed becomes a guava tree, a jamun kernel becomes a jamun tree. It even returns flowers in the exact color planted. The poet marvels at the earth's physical strength, personifying it as a skilled performer balancing tall coconut trees against the wind.
The earth's capacity seems endless; it absorbs any liquid poured into it without ever getting full, as if it could hide a whole river inside. The ultimate magic, for the poet, lies in the earth's ability to create different flavors. He wonders how it infuses fruits with various kinds of sweetness while keeping leaves tasteless, and how it can produce a sweet sugarcane right next to a tasteless bamboo. This constant display of mysterious power convinces the poet that the earth truly knows how to do magic.
Questions & Answers
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This is a poem in praise of the magical powers of earth. Do you agree?
Yes, the poem is a celebration of the earth's seemingly magical and wondrous abilities.
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The word earth in the poem refers to:
c. the substance that plants grow in.
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Say whether the following statements are True (T) or False (F).
- a. If you plant a guava seed, you will get a guava later. - True
- b. If you plant the seed of a particular vegetable, the earth will give you that vegetable later. - True
- c. If you want a flower of a particular colour, the earth will give you flowers of different colours. - False
- d. When the wind does its best to make a coconut tree fall down, the earth prevents it from happening. - True
- e. The earth absorbs only sweet-tasting liquids like sherbet. - False
- f. The earth has huge quantities of groundwater. - True
- g. The earth stores large quantities of sugar. - False
- h. The earth puts the same sweetness into all fruits. - False
- i. Even though both the bamboo and the sugarcane are tropical plants, only the latter tastes sweet. - True
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Personification is a literary device... Pick out any two examples of the tricks that 'magician earth' performs.
Two examples of tricks the 'magician earth' performs are:
- It balances tall coconut trees "on its fingers" and doesn't let them fall, even when the wind blows hard.
- It "gulps down" any liquid you give it from a jug or bucket, and its "stomach never fills."
Important Questions
Why does the poet call the earth ‘magical’?
The poet calls it magical because it performs wonders like turning a tiny seed into a fruit-bearing tree, producing colorful flowers, and absorbing endless water without ever filling up.How does the earth balance the tall coconut trees?
It is personified as holding them steady on its "fingers," preventing them from falling even when the wind tries to push them over.What question does the poet ask about sweetness in fruits?
He wonders how the earth creates so many different kinds of sweetness for fruits like mangoes, plums, and pomegranates, and where this sweetness comes from.What is the contrast between bamboo and sugarcane that puzzles the poet?
The poet is puzzled that although both plants grow from the same earth, the bamboo is tasteless while the sugarcane is full of sweetness.What message do you learn from this poem?
The poem teaches us to look at the natural world with a sense of wonder and appreciation. It reminds us that everyday processes, like a seed growing into a plant, are truly magical and mysterious.
