NCERT Solutions Poorvi Chapter 4 Travel (poem) — Let us think and reflect
Book page 160 Updated on2026-09-05
Q1.
Read the extract given below and answer the questions that follow. “My heart is warm with the friends I make, / And better friends I'll not be knowing...” (i) Choose the suitable option to complete the following. The line ‘My heart is warm' refers to a heart that is ___. A. filled with worries B. full of love C. feeling upset D. experiencing anger
Answer
B. full of love
Why: In English, warmth is the standard image for affection — we speak of a warm welcome, a warm smile, warm-hearted people. Worry, sadness and anger are all described with the opposite images: a heavy heart, a cold heart, a heart that burns. The next line settles it beyond doubt: she says she will never know better friends than these.
Q2.
(ii) What does the speaker say about her current friends?
Answer
She says they are the best friends she will ever have. Her heart is warm because of them, and she is sure that “better friends I'll not be knowing” — that is, no future friendship will ever improve on this one.
Read the grammar carefully: “I'll not be knowing” is a future form. She is not merely saying that they are good friends now; she is saying that for the rest of her life she does not expect to meet better ones.
Q3.
(iii) What does the line ‘better friends I'll not be knowing' suggest about the speaker's feelings toward their current friends?
Answer
It suggests a deep satisfaction and gratitude. She values her friends so highly that she cannot imagine better ones. There is nothing lacking in her life at home, and nothing she is running away from.
Why the poet puts this line here — and why it matters: It is followed at once by “Yet there isn't a train I wouldn't take”. That little word yet turns the whole poem. Even perfect friendship is not enough to hold her. If she were lonely or unhappy, wanting to leave would be easy to understand; because she is happy, her longing to travel must be something deeper — a restlessness that has nothing to do with what she is leaving behind.
Q4.
(iv) Complete the following suitably. The tone of the speaker in these lines is ______. (grateful/content)
Answer
content
Why ‘content' fits better: To be grateful is to feel thankful to somebody for something they gave you. To be content is to feel that what you have is enough. The line “better friends I'll not be knowing” is a statement of sufficiency — she is not thanking her friends, she is saying that nothing better is possible. That is contentment.
Note: ‘Grateful' is not a foolish answer, and “my heart is warm” certainly carries warmth towards her friends. If you choose it, defend it — but ‘content' is the closer fit for the second line.
Q5.
Answer the following questions. 1. What does the phrase ‘cinders red on the sky' tell us about the train at night?
Answer
Cinders are small pieces of half-burnt coal. A steam engine's firebox throws them up through the funnel, still glowing red, and at night they can be seen as a shower of sparks staining the dark sky above the track.
So the phrase tells us three things:
The train is a steam train, burning coal — this is an old-fashioned railway.
Trains run at night as well as by day; the railway never sleeps.
Although the train itself is invisible from miles away, its glow can be seen. The speaker cannot see the engine, only the light it throws — much as Suraj, in The Tunnel, could not see Sunder Singh but could see his lamp.
The image beneath the fact: Red against black is the colour of fire, energy and danger. The night sky is “still for sleep and dreaming”, and across it the train writes a line of fire. That is exactly how the idea of travel burns in the speaker's quiet life.
Q6.
2. What is the significance of the repeated references to the train's whistle?
Answer
The whistle is the train's voice, and the poet returns to it because it is a call that the speaker cannot ignore.
It reaches her over a distance of miles and through a day “loud with voices speaking” — so it is not really the ear that hears it but the mind.
The word chosen for it, “shrieking”, is a human word. The train seems to be crying out to her personally.
Repeating it shows that this is not a passing fancy. Whatever else she is doing, the whistle keeps breaking in.
What it stands for: The whistle is the call of the unknown — of departure itself. Every time it sounds, it reminds her that somewhere a train is leaving and she is not on it.
Q7.
3. What does the line ‘no matter where it's going' reveal about the speaker's attitude towards travel?
Answer
It reveals that for her the destination does not matter at all. She has no particular city in mind, no relative to visit, no work to do. What she loves is the act of going.
Her attitude is therefore:
Unconditional — she would take any train.
Restless — she wants movement and change for their own sake.
Adventurous — she is willing to arrive somewhere she has not chosen, which most people would find frightening.
Why this is the heart of the poem: Most people travel to somewhere. She simply wants to travel. That is why the poem is called Travel and not “The Journey” or “Away” — the title names the activity, not a place.
Q8.
4. Do you think the poet actually sees and hears the train? Why or why not?
Answer
Probably not — most of it happens in her imagination. This is the stronger reading, and the poem gives the evidence itself:
The very first line says the railroad track is “miles away”.
By day “the day is loud with voices speaking” — a whistle miles off could not be heard above that noise.
She claims to hear or see every single train, all day and all night, which no one living miles from a line realistically could.
The other view, fairly stated: On a still night sound carries a very long way, and the red glow of a steam engine really can be seen from a distance. So a few of these sights and sounds may be real.
Why the imaginary reading is stronger: The poem is not about a railway; it is about longing. The trains are so constantly in her mind that she believes she hears them. That is what makes the last stanza so moving — she is ready to leave on a train she has never actually seen.
Tip: When a question asks “Do you think…?”, you may argue either way — but you must give reasons from the text, and it is worth naming the other view before you reject it.