Felling of the Banyan Tree
Dilip Chitre | Woven Words Poetry - Ultimate Study Guide 2025
Introduction to Poetry - Woven Words
Poetry is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language to evoke meanings beyond literal comprehension. It can explore emotions, nature, society, and the human condition through imagery, metaphor, and sound.
In the ‘narrative poem’ like this one, the focus is on recounting events with emotional depth, blending personal memory with broader critique. Chitre’s "Felling of the Banyan Tree" uses vivid description to lament environmental loss and generational conflict, revealing pathos in destruction.
Poetry differs from prose in its compression; brevity demands layered language. Yet, it can expand into epic forms, though here it achieves novel-like resonance in evoking cultural roots.
Key Elements
- Forms: Narrative, lyric, dramatic.
- Devices: Imagery, metaphor, tone (critical here).
- Types: Personal reflection (memory), eco-poetry (nature's voice).
- Economy: Concise lines pack symbolism.
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Author: Dilip Chitre (1938–2009)
Dilip Chitre was born in Baroda. He writes poetry both in Marathi and English. Travelling in a Cage, from which the poem selected here has been taken, was published in 1980. Apart from poetry, Chitre has also written short stories and critical essays. An Anthology of Marathi Poetry 1945–1965 is one of his most important works of translation. He sees poetry as an expression of the spirit. He lives and works in Mumbai.
Major Works
- Travelling in a Cage (1980)
- An Anthology of Marathi Poetry 1945–1965 (Translation)
- Short stories and critical essays
Key Themes
- Loss of tradition and nature
- Urban alienation vs. rural roots
- Spiritual expression through bilingual poetry
Style
Realistic, evocative; blends personal narrative with cultural critique, using vivid imagery to mourn change.
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Full Poem Text: Felling of the Banyan Tree
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Poem Summary: English & Hindi (Detailed Overview)
English Summary (Approx. 1 Page)
The poem narrates the poet's childhood memory of his father's ruthless demolition of surrounding structures and sacred trees on their Baroda hill home to assert control. Despite his grandmother's reverence for trees as divine, the father massacres the sheoga, oudumber, and neem. The ancient banyan, symbolizing deep-rooted heritage, resists longest—three times taller than the house, with a fifty-foot trunk and scraggy aerial roots. Over seven days, branches are sawn, displacing wildlife; fifty men then axe the trunk, exposing 200-year rings in a mythic slaughter watched in horrified awe. Soon after, the family relocates to treeless Bombay, leaving only a haunting dream-banyan whose roots seek unyielding ground, embodying enduring loss.
हिंदी सारांश (संक्षिप्त)
कविता कवि की बचपन की स्मृति का वर्णन करती है, जब उनके पिता ने बड़ौदा की पहाड़ी पर घर के आसपास के घरों और पवित्र वृक्षों को बेरहमी से ध्वस्त किया। दादी के वृक्षों को पवित्र मानने के बावजूद, पिता ने शीशम, औदुंबर और नीम काट डाले। विशाल बरगद, गहरी जड़ों वाला प्रतीक, सबसे लंबे समय तक टिका—घर से तीन गुना ऊंचा, 50 फुट व्यास का तना। सात दिनों में डालियां काटी गईं, जीव-जंतु भागे; 50 आदमियों ने कुल्हाड़ियों से धड़ काटा, 200 वर्ष की वलय प्रकट हुए। परिवार मुंबई चला गया, जहां केवल स्वप्न-बरगद उगता है, जड़ें जमीन तलाशतीं।
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Understanding the Poem
1. Identify the lines that reveal the critical tone of the poet towards the felling of the tree.
- "Felling them is a crime but he massacred them all" – Equates cutting to murder, indicting father's sacrilege.
- "But the huge banyan tree stood like a problem" – Tree as moral obstacle, critiquing father's resolve.
- "We watched in terror and fascination this slaughter" – "Slaughter" anthropomorphizes violence, evoking horror at destruction.
- "As a raw mythology revealed to us its age" – Mythic sanctity violated, underscoring cultural loss.
2. Identify the words that help you understand the nature of the poet’s father.
- "Told the tenants to leave" – Authoritative, displacing others for self-interest.
- "Massacred them all" – Ruthless, violent disregard for life/sacredness.
- "Ordered it to be removed" – Commanding, treating nature as disposable obstacle.
- Implied: Progress-driven, modern vs. traditional (ignores grandmother's wisdom).
3. ‘Trees are sacred my grandmother used to say’— what does the poet imply by this line?
- Contrasts generational values: Grandmother embodies reverence for nature as divine/spiritual, rooted in tradition.
- Poet implies father's actions profane this sanctity, symbolizing erosion of cultural/ethical heritage.
- Evokes nostalgia/regret; trees as living ancestors, felling as betrayal of roots.
4. ‘No trees except the one which grows and seethes in one’s dreams’— why is the phrase ‘grows and seethes’ used?
- "Grows": Persistent vitality in memory, defying physical destruction.
- "Seethes": Simmering anger/resentment; tree's spirit rebels, roots "strike" like vengeance.
- Together: Conveys haunting, restless legacy—loss festers subconsciously in urban exile.
5. How does the banyan tree stand out as different from other trees? What details of the tree does the poet highlight in the poem?
- Different: Monumental resilience ("stood like a problem," roots "deeper than all our lives"); mythic emblem vs. ordinary trees.
- Details: Three times house height; 50-ft trunk; scraggy aerial roots from 30 ft; 200-year rings; branch-heap after 7 days; wildlife exodus.
- Highlights endurance, age, interconnectedness—symbol of enduring heritage.
6. What does the reference to raw mythology imply?
- Unrefined, primal lore: Tree's age/rings evoke ancient, untamed stories of creation/survival.
- Implies: Destruction unveils buried cultural narratives, but "slaughter" profanes them—modernity erodes sacred origins.
- Poet's fascination/terror: Revelation of heritage amid loss, raw as exposed wound.
7. ‘Whose roots lay deeper than our lives’— what aspect of human behaviour does this line reflect?
- Reflects shortsightedness: Humans prioritize immediate gain (demolition) over enduring legacies (roots outlasting lives).
- Hubris/arrogance: Father's order ignores nature's timeless depth, symbolizing generational disregard for sustainability.
- Broader: Environmental exploitation—superficial progress severs profound connections.
8. Comment on the contemporary concern that the poem echoes.
- Eco-degradation: Urbanization's assault on nature mirrors deforestation/climate crisis.
- Cultural erosion: Migration to cities (Baroda to Bombay) severs roots, echoing globalization's homogenizing force.
- Intergenerational conflict: Tradition (grandmother) vs. modernity (father)—timely in sustainability debates.
Appreciation & Analysis
Points to Ponder
- Symbolism: Banyan = cultural resilience; felling = colonial/modern uprooting.
- Tone: Elegiac, accusatory—blends personal loss with universal lament.
- Imagery: Sensory (sawing, chopping) heightens violence; dream-tree as subconscious protest.
Chitre's poem masterfully critiques progress's cost, using autobiography to universalize eco-grief.
Language Work
1. Guess the meaning of ‘scraggy’ from the context.
2. Use the following adjectives to describe suitable items: raw, aerial, sacred
- Raw: mythology (unrefined lore), emotion (primal grief).
- Aerial: roots (hanging from above), views (sky-high).
- Sacred: trees (divine symbols), rituals (ancestral rites).
3. Equivalents for Trees
| Marathi Tree | English | Hindi Equivalent |
|---|---|---|
| Sheoga | Teak | सागवान |
| Oudumber | Indian Fig | औदुंबर |
| Neem | Neem | नीम |
| Banyan | Banyan | बरगद |
Interactive Quiz - Test Your Understanding
10 MCQs on poem, themes, and language. Aim for 80%+.
Try This Out
1. Describe any such experience you have had of the felling of a tree you were attached to, with reasons for your special attachment to the tree.
2. Find out the equivalents for sheoga, oudumber and neem in your language and English and the equivalent of banyan in your language.
3. The adjective ‘scraggy’ is used to describe ‘roots’ in the poem. Find out two other items which could be described as ‘scraggy’: scraggy…………….
4. Use the following adjectives to describe suitable items: raw, aerial, sacred
Suggested Reading
- Death of Grandmother by Dilip Chitre.
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