TIGER – Keki. N.

Daruwalla (Grade 9)
1. What does the phrase ‘burning bright’ mean?
• The phrase refers to the eyes of the tiger.
• But unlike Blake’s tiger, the tiger depicted in Daruwalla’s poem does not have eyes
which bum brightly.
• If we take the phrase ‘burning bright’ as ‘feeling emotion’ or ‘flourishing in life’, then
we can conclude that the tiger lacks the spirit of life.
2. What is not burning bright?
• If the eyes are taken as the sign of the soul, the eyes that bum bright can be considered
the indication of the fulfillment of the soul’s desire.
• The tiger’s emotions, desires and even anger are not seen in the forest.
3. What is the ‘plight’ referred to in the poem?
• The ‘plight’ referred to is the difficult and pitiable situation of the tiger.
4. According to the poet, what are we not able to understand?
• According to the poet, we are not able to understand the importance of tigers in nature.
He feels that we don’t understand the ecological balance.
5. How was the tiger in the forest, according to the poet?
• The tiger in the forest was like a king; other animals were afraid of him. His thunderous
roar made the animals tremble in fear. The monkeys screamed and birds chirped and flew
away. But all these things happened in the past.
6. Where is the gecko hunting?
• Gecko is hunting for insects on the dried skin of the tiger which was hung on the wall’as
an ornamental showpiece.
7. How did the tiger rule the forest?
• Tiger, the king of the forest used to make the birds disappear and send the monkeys
scampering away with loud chatters, with its loud roar.
• It was the fearsome beast of the jungle creating fear in the heart of the animals in the
forest.
C2:
1. ‘Their souls were sick. Killing tigers.
1. Whose souls were sick?
2. Why are their souls described as sick?
3. Why were the tigers killed?
Ans: 1. The human souls were sick.
2. Their souls are described as sick because they are killing the tigers for their selfish reasons.
3. The power of the tiger’s bone is used to heal sick men. The tiger’s skin is used as a wall decoration.
So, the tigers are killed.
2. ‘Once jungles trembled at his roar’
1. At whose roar did the jungles tremble?
2. Why do they no longer tremble?
3. Who is responsible for the tiger’s fate?
Ans: 1. The jungles trembled at the tiger’s roar.
2. Because the tigers are very few in number now and are almost extinct.
3. Man is responsible for the tiger’s fate.
C3:
1. What is the poet’s view about killing animals? Is he condemning the killers or speaking in
appreciation of them?
• The poem ‘Tiger’ by Keki Daruwalla is a poignant plea not to kill tigers.
• It’s a parody of Blake’s poem ‘Tyger’ wherein Blake pictures the Tyger as a majestic, brute
beauty of nature.
• But in the poem of Daruwalla, the tiger is shown as a pitiable creature as it is near extinction.
The poet is condemning the killers.
• He does not like the idea of killing animals for selfish reasons.
• The poet makes us feel and understand the difficulties of the life of the animals.
• The poet describes the significance of protecting the endangered species.
• People cruelly kill animals. People kill animals for recreation and for financial benefits.
2. How can you protect the tigers from extinction?
• Tigers are the majestic creatures who are poached for their bones and skins.
• Now, the tiger population has dwindled so much that the total tiger population is around a
thousand and odd.
• If we continue to behave in the same manner, tigers too will become extinct like the dinosaurs
and mammoths.
• So, strict laws should be framed for severe punishment to the poachers. The bones of the tigers
should no longer be an ingredient for medicines.
• Proper care should be taken of the tigers that are surviving and they should be safeguarded in
the Tiger Reserves and Sanctuaries.
• All care should be taken so that the tiger can once again ‘burn brightly’.
3. Find out about “Project Tiger”.
‘Project Tiger’ is a wildlife conservation project initiated by the Government of India in 1972 to
protect the Bengal Tiger. It was launched on April 1st, 1973 and has become one of the most
successful wildlife conservation ventures. The project aims at ensuring a viable population of Bengal
tigers in their natural 1 habitats, protecting them from extinction, and preserving areas of biological
importance as a natural heritage forever, representing as close as possible the diversity of ecosystems
across the distribution of tigers in the country.

The Project was launched ‘ first in Jim Corbett National Park of Uttarakhand in 1973. The
project is administered by the National Tiger Conservation Authority which was established in 2005
for strengthening tiger conservation. Project Tiger has helped to increase the population of these tigers
from 1,200 in the 1970s to 1,411 as per the 2008 census to 2,967 during the 2018 count, which is
around 80% of the world’s tiger population.

In 2014 Karnataka was the state with the highest ‘ population of tigers with 408 counted. But as
per the 2018 count, Madhya Pradesh reported the highest number of tigers (526), followed by
Karnataka (524) and Uttarakhand (442).