IF I WAS A TREE
Mudnakudu Chinnaswamy
I. Answer the
following in a word, a phrase or a sentence each:
1. What does the speaker want to be in the poem, ‘If I
was a tree’?
a) An apple or a
butterfly b) A tiger or
a bull c) A cat or A dog
Ans: a) An apple or a
butterfly
2. Who would not ask the caste of the tree before
building its nest in ‘If I was a tree’?
a) no air b)
no bird c)
no grass
Ans: b) no bird
3. According to the speaker in ‘If I Was A Tree’, what
would not the bird ask before building its nest?
a) tree’s name b) tree’s age c) tree’s caste
Ans: c) tree’s caste
4. What wouldn’t feel defiled when sunlight embraces the
tree in ‘If I was a tree’
a) the shadow of the
tree b) branch of the
tree c) trunk of the tree
Ans: a) The shadow of
the tree
5. The _______ would embrace the tree in the poem ‘If I
was a tree’’?
a) Cow b)
Sunlight c)
Bird
Ans: b) Sunlight
6. Whose friendship with the cool breeze would be sweet ,
in ‘If I was a tree’?
a) breeze and leaves b) breeze and trunk c) breeze and branch
Ans: a) breeze and
leaves
7. _______ would not turn back taking the speaker for a
dog-eater if he was a tree.
a) The Mother Earth b) Rain drops c) The sacred cow
Ans: a) The Mother
Earth
8. Who would not flee shouting for a bath in ‘If I was a
tree’?
a) The Mother Earth b) Rain drops c) The sacred cow
Ans: a) The Mother
Earth
9. According
to the speaker, when would not The Mother Earth flee shouting for a bath in ‘If
I was a tree’?
a) if the tree trunk
out further from its roots.
b) if the tree branched
out further from its roots.
c) if the tree branch
out further from its roots.
Ans: b) if the tree branched
out further from its roots.
10. How many gods are sheltered inside the body of the
cow?
a) 30000 b)3000 c) 300000
Ans: c) 300000
11. Who are sheltered inside the body of the cow?
a) Men b) Gods c) Angels
Ans: b) Gods
12. Where are the three hundred thousand gods sheltered
in ‘If I was a tree’?
a) Inside the cow b) In a tree c) In a mountain
Ans: a) Inside the
cow
13. What would scrape her body on the bark of the tree in
‘If I was a tree’?
a) A sacred cow b) A horse c) A rabbit
Ans:
14. When would the three hundred thousand gods touch the speaker
if he was a tree?
a) When a horse
scrape her body on the bark of the tree
b) When a goat scrape
her body on the bark of the tree
c) When a cow scrape
her body on the bark of the tree
Ans: c) When a cow
scrape her body on the bark of the tree
15. How does the speaker want to be purified in the poem,
‘If I was a tree’?
a) Hacked into pieces of dry wood and burn in the holy fire and
become pure.
b) Hacked into pieces of dry wood and sink in water
c) Hacked into pieces of dry wood and burry in soil
Ans: a) Hacked into pieces of dry wood and burn in the holy fire and
become pure.
16. The ______ is hacked into pieces of dry wood to burn
in the holy fire.
a. mother Earth b. tree c. sacred cow.
Ans: b) tree
17. What becomes a bier for a sinless body in the poem,
‘If I was a Tree’?
a. mother Earth b. tree c. sacred cow.
Ans: b) tree
