NCERT Solutions for Class 9 English Kaveri Poem 2 – Gifts of Grace: Honouring Our Vocations

The speaker declares that he can hear the whole of Bharat celebrating through its varied vocations. Craftspersons celebrate crafts “woven with colours and myriad hues”; artisans with lutes fill the streets with music that carries every shade of emotion and dream. Work itself becomes a festival.

The catalogue widens: carpenters create anything from wood with mathematical precision; electricians hum cheerfully as they ready their cables and wires to brighten our lives; boatmen gather their nets, sail out singing and return with tales of the sea; shoemakers proudly affirm the quality of boots made for feet that walk, dance, run, jump and return home safely.

The cook’s “delicious singing”, the rhythm of the designer and the mason — each celebrates what belongs to them and to none else. The poem closes on its key line: the voice of their vocation is the voice of their identity. The opening line returns like a refrain, sealing the poem in one continuous song of national celebration.

1. (sows secrets in furrows and watches them grow) — a farmer
2. (from wheel to kiln, an art takes form) — a potter
3. (lays foundations brick by brick) — a mason
4. (works with pots, pans and spice) — a cook

These workers form the backbone of our daily life. The farmer grows the food that feeds the whole nation; the potter shapes vessels we cook, store and serve in; the mason builds the homes, schools and hospitals we live and work in; and the cook turns raw grain into nourishing meals. Without their skill and labour, society simply could not function — which is why every such vocation deserves equal respect and gratitude.

1. Rhyme Scheme and Lineation
(i) The poem does not adhere to a strict rhyme scheme — it is written in free verse.
(ii) The varying length of lines gives the poem a natural, flowing, speech-like rhythm. Long lines roll on like a worker’s song, while shorter lines create pauses — together they mirror the variety of the vocations themselves.
(iii) Most lines follow the same pattern: they begin by naming a group of workers (the carpenters, the electricians, the boatmen, the shoemakers) and then describe how those workers celebrate their craft.

2. Speaker
(i) The speaker is the poet himself, in the role of a delighted listener and observer. He walks through the nation hearing its workers sing, and acts as a witness who records, honours and shares the celebration of every vocation.

3. Tone and Mood
A. The tone is reverential and celebratory, depicting a sense of admiration and respect for the artisans and craftspersons.
B. There is a joyful mood throughout the poem, capturing the vibrancy and richness of cultural traditions and skills.

4. Imagery
(i) Visual images: crafts “woven with colours and myriad hues”; the boatmen “gathering their nets from the shore”. (The carpenters shaping wood with mathematical precision is a third example.)
(ii) The poem includes auditory imagery through mentions of artisans with lutes, the electricians humming, and the boatmen (and the cook) singing, emphasising the sounds associated with each vocation.

5. Metaphor
(i) True — ‘delicious singing’ equates the pleasure of the cook’s song with the pleasure of tasting delicious food.

6. Personification
(i) “The voice of their vocation is the voice of their identity.” — the vocation is given the human quality of a voice.

7. Repetition
(i) By beginning and ending with the same line, the poet frames the entire poem as one unbroken celebration. The return of the line works like the refrain of a song: it reminds us of the central idea, creates a circular unity, and suggests that Bharat’s celebration of its vocations never stops — it goes on echoing after the poem ends.

8. Alliteration
(i) Two examples: “varied vocations” (also “the voice of their vocation”) and “sailing, and singing”.

9. Symbolism
(i) Each vocation symbolises far more than a means of earning: it stands for the worker’s identity, dignity, self-respect and unique contribution to society. Together the vocations symbolise the unity-in-diversity of the nation itself.

1. The poet says that the shoemakers ‘affirm’ the quality of their work. What does ‘affirm’ refer to here?
(ii) to declare with confidence

2. What do quality shoes help with, according to the poet?
They support every movement of daily life — they help feet walk, dance, run and jump, and carry people safely back home.

3. What does ‘return home’ symbolise besides the literal act of returning?
It symbolises safety, comfort and the successful completion of the day’s journey — the assurance that good workmanship quietly protects people through all their activities until they are home again.

4. Identify the phrase that tells us that every worker’s contribution is distinct.
“each celebrating what belongs to them and to none else”

5. Complete the following with suitable words.
“…for the feet that walk, dance, run, jump, return home” refers to people from every walk of life, in all their daily activities, whom the shoemaker’s work serves and protects.

1. Why does the poet say, ‘I hear Bharat celebrating, the varied vocations I hear’?
Because wherever he turns, he hears working people singing at their crafts — artisans, carpenters, electricians, boatmen, shoemakers, cooks and masons. To him, these work-songs are not separate sounds but one grand chorus: the nation itself celebrating through the joyful labour of its people.

2. What does the electrician ‘humming’ while getting ready for work suggest?
It suggests contentment and pride. The electrician approaches his work not as a burden but cheerfully, with a song on his lips — proof that meaningful work, done willingly, is itself a source of happiness.

3. Explain the significance of the line, ‘The voice of their vocation is the voice of their identity.’
The line carries the heart of the poem: a person’s work is the truest expression of who they are. The carpenter is known by his precision, the cook by her flavours, the boatman by his tales of the sea. Our vocation gives us our place, our pride and our name in society — when our work speaks, it is we who are speaking.

4. Do you think the role of all the people belonging to different vocations is important in our daily lives? Support your answer with a reason.
Yes, absolutely. Our daily life is a web of their labours: the farmer feeds us, the mason shelters us, the electrician lights our homes, the cobbler protects our feet and the cook nourishes us. If any one vocation stopped, the whole web would tear — which is why every honest occupation, however humble it appears, is equally indispensable.

5. Why is the poet celebrating all the vocations in the poem? Explain by giving examples from your context.
The poet celebrates them because each contributes something unique that no one else can give, and each worker finds identity and joy in that contribution. I see the same in my own neighbourhood: the tailor who remembers every customer’s measurements, the milkman who arrives before sunrise in every season, the local potter whose diyas light our Diwali, and the ASHA worker who checks on every newborn. Their skills, like those in the poem, keep our community alive and deserve celebration.

6. How does the poet use sensory imagery to bring out the beauty of everyday work?
The poem appeals constantly to the ear and the eye. We hear lutes in the streets, the electrician’s humming, the boatmen’s singing and the cook’s ‘delicious’ song; we see crafts woven in myriad hues, wood shaped with precision and nets gathered on the shore. By letting us hear and see the workers at their tasks, the poet transforms ordinary labour into music and art.

1. A person who studies or grows garden plants: horticulturist
2. A trained female community health worker: ASHA worker
3. A producer of raw silk: sericulturist
4. A person whose job is making or selling sweets and chocolates: confectioner
5. A metalworker who specialises in working with precious metals: goldsmith
6. A person who fuses materials together: welder

1. myriad — countable   2. hues — drawing   3. precision — calculation   4. varied — uniform   5. delicious — inedible

Toy cars (he uses toy cars with his father’s tool kit to discuss details and usage).

1. The girl is (i) happy about taking food for her mother at the factory.
2. The boy thinks that the job of the girl’s mother carries a lot of (iii) responsibility.
3. The girl (iii) realises why the boy is good at science exhibitions.
4. The girl shares her (ii) wish about joining the weekend discussion on tools.

Good morning, friends. I am a carpenter. With saw, chisel and plane, I turn plain wood into doors, desks and cradles — anything you can imagine, measured with mathematical precision. My workshop smells of fresh shavings, and every grain of timber tells me how it wishes to be shaped. My joys are many: a chair that lasts a generation, a child’s smile at a new study table. My problems are real too — machine-made furniture undercuts my prices, and good seasoned wood grows costly. Yet I sing while I work, for my craft is my identity. My message to you: respect every maker, and when you buy, remember the hands behind the thing. (Prepare similar speeches for the boatman, cook, electrician and shoemaker.)

This is a reading-for-pleasure activity. In the poem, a child watches Leerie the lamplighter pass by every evening with lantern and ladder and dreams of joining him when grown — while other children dream of being drivers, sailors or bankers. Like our poem, it shows childhood fascination with vocations and the quiet heroism of everyday work.

Reason for choice: I chose the electrician’s trade because the poem’s humming electrician made me curious, and the Skill India portal lists it as a high-demand vocation with formal ITI and apprenticeship pathways.
Helpful to society and self: Electricians keep homes, hospitals and schools running and are first responders for power faults; for the individual, the trade offers respectable income, self-employment opportunities and skills recognised under the National Skill Qualification Framework.

Clay spins on the wheel —
patient hands of the potter
shape the morning sun.

Q1. Which famous poem does ‘Gifts of Grace’ resemble in style? (30–40 words)
Its catalogue of singing workers recalls Walt Whitman’s “I Hear America Singing”, which lists American workers singing at their tasks. This poem adapts that celebratory style to India, hearing Bharat celebrate through its varied vocations.

Q2. How are the boatmen described in the poem? (30–40 words)
The boatmen gather their nets from the shore, sail out singing as they work, and return to tell the tales of life at sea — workers whose labour is woven with song, adventure and storytelling.

Q3. What does the title ‘Gifts of Grace: Honouring Our Vocations’ mean? (30–40 words)
It suggests that our skills and occupations are blessings — gifts of grace — given to us. The poem honours these gifts by celebrating every vocation as a source of dignity, identity and service to society.

Q4. “The poem turns ordinary work into a national celebration.” Discuss. (100–120 words)
The poem’s genius lies in hearing music where others hear routine. A carpenter measuring wood, an electrician checking wires, a boatman hauling nets, a cook at her stove — these everyday scenes are presented as performances in one nationwide festival. Each worker sings, hums or keeps rhythm, and each song expresses pride in a craft that belongs to that worker alone. By framing the catalogue between two identical lines, the poet makes the celebration continuous and collective: individual work-songs merge into the chorus of Bharat itself. The poem thus elevates ordinary labour to the level of art and worship, teaching us that a nation’s true music is made by its working people.