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A Photograph Q&A
A Photograph Q&A
cardboard–the instant photo that comes out of the camera. It has the hard base of a cardboard; how it
was–the situation at that time; paddling–walking with short steps on water, propelling a small boat for
sport on water (पैर से चलाई जाने वाली नाव),संभलकर पानी में चल रही थी; holding–थामे हुए; big girl–the mother of the
poetess, was then only twelve years old.
Questions
(i) What does the word ‘cardboard’ denote in the poem? Why has this word been used?
(ii) Who were the three girls captured in the photograph?
(iii) Where had they gone for outing/paddling?
Ans.
(i) The word ‘cardboard’ denotes the instant photo or snapshot that is pasted on cardboard in the
photo frame.
(ii) The three girls captured in the photograph were the mother of the poetess who was
not married then, and her two cousins—Betty and Dolly.
(iii) They had gone out for a sea holiday. They were photographed on the sea beach.
Questions
(i) What is the significance of the ‘sea holiday’ here?
(ii) Explain: The sea holiday was her past, mine is her laughter.
(iii) Who does ‘both’ here refer to?
Ans.
(i) The significance of the sea holiday is that the mother was also a girl once and it refers to a
happy moment in her life on the sea beach.
(ii) The mother had seen her photo, taken 20-30 years earlier when she was just twelve
years old. So, that photograph denoted her own past. But the poetess who had heard her mother
laugh is also bereaved. The mother has passed away, her laughter is also thing of the past for the
poetess.
(iii) ‘Both’ here refers to the photograph and the mother’s laughter.