Where the Mind is Without Fear.

Rabindranath Tagore.

About the poet:

Rabindranath Tagore reshaped Bengali literature and music and was the first
Asian to be awarded with the Nobel Prize for Gitanjali, in 1913. He has written
multiple novels, poems, short stories, travelogues, dramas and thousands of
songs. His writings are influenced by both Indian and Western traditions. His
famous works include Sonar Tari, Gitanjali, Balaka (poetry), Raja, Dak Ghar,
Muktadhara (dramas), Nastanirh, Gora, Ghare Baire (fiction) and the list is
endless.

About the poem:

Where the Mind is Without Fear is one of his famous poems. It was originally
composed in Bengali, under the title Prarthana, meaning prayer. This poem
appeared in the volume called Naibedya in 1901.

Tagore wrote this poem when India was under the clutches of British rule. He
wrote this poem to encourage the countrymen, to instil courage in their hearts
and minds.

Lines 1-2:

The poet prays to God that his countrymen should not cower in fear. They
should be free from oppression and compulsion. Their heads should be held
high. He wants his countrymen to be fearless and have a sense of pride and self-
dignity. They should not be daunted by any kind of oppression and should be
determined in their pursuit of goal.

In the second line, the poet dreams of a nation where knowledge is accessible to
all and sundry. Only the light of education has the power to obliterate the
darkness of ignorance. Hence, he wants everyone to be educated irrespective of
class barriers. Lessons taught should have spiritual importance and should aim
at the all-round development of a students personality.
Lines 3-4:

Prejudices, discriminations divide people. They germinate the seed of hostility in

all. The poet wants that there should not exist any form of difference among
people based on caste, creed, language, sex, religion and colour. Prejudices and
superstitions are the narrow domestic walls that divide us into groups, thereby
breaking our unity and making us weak and fragile.

Lines 5-6:

Tagore wishes that the people of his nation will be forthright and honest. Their
words should come out from their hearts. Their words should be clear and
distinct.

The poet asks everyone to work hard, without exhaustion, to reach their desired
goal. His countrymen should tirelessly stretch their arms towards perfection.
They should work hard till they attain perfection. The figure of speech used in
the sixth line is personification. Tireless striving has been personified as a
human being, stretching his arms to attain perfection in his desired mission.

Lines 7-8:

The poet wants his people to be rational and logical in their thinking. They
should not be dictated by the blind superstitions and traditional conventions.
He draws an analogy between reason and clear stream and compares dead
habits to a dreary desert. Reason should not lose its way in the sand of dead
habits.

Lines 9-11:

The countrymen should have a progressive approach and encourage new

thoughts and ideas. Their minds should be led forward by the contemporary
new objectives.

In the final line, the poet addresses Almighty as Father and prays to him to let
his country wake up to such a heavenly abode of freedom where there is
brightness, radiance and confidence all around.

Extract based questions along with their probable answers:

Q1. Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high

Where knowledge is free

a. Name the poem and the poet.

Ans: The name of the poem is Where the Mind is Without Fear and the name of
the poet is Rabindranath Tagore.

b. Name the form of the poem.

Ans: The poem is written in the form of a prayer, an invocation to Almighty. It is

written in free verse.
c. What does the poet want our mind and head to be?

Ans: The poet wants our minds to be without fear and heads to be held high.
d. What is meant by mind is without fear?

Ans: Mind is without fear the phrase alludes to the fact that our minds
should be fearless. We should not be daunted by the shackles of oppression.

Fear should not be able to daunt us. Our heads should be held high, without
any form of fear or restriction.
e. Explain: head held high.

Ans: Head held high means to have self-esteem. The heads of the countrymen
are held down because of the excruciating oppression suffered by them in the
hands of the British.

The poet wants their heads to be held high with utmost pride and dignity and
not bowed down.
f. Whose mind is the poet talking about and why?

Ans: The poet is talking about the minds of the countrymen.

He wants his countrymen to be fearless and not remain gripped in fear.

His countrymen were under the clutches of British when he wrote this poem. So
his vision is of a fearless India.
g. What is the vision of the poet?

Ans: The poet envisions a World of Freedom that can only be gained if the
countrymen are fearless. Only a fearless mind can hold his head upright and
straight.

He wrote this poem when the Indians were under the control of British. So he
visualises a mental picture of free India, without any external domination.
h. Why does the poet feel that his countrymen should not feel any kind of
fear?
Ans: The poet is aware of how glorious India used to be in the past, how India
soared high before her pinions were chained.

With the advent of the British, the countrymen had lost their pride, confidence
and self-esteem. So the poet dreams of a free country where his countrymen
would not feel any kind of fear or oppression.

People would hold their heads high and voice their opinions freely.
i. How would the countrymen be able to hold their heads high?

Ans: The countrymen would be able to hold their heads high if they are free
from oppression of any kind. They would derive strength from their access to
knowledge which can help them to become confident.

Their knowledge would not be confined to narrow thoughts and ideas. No

narrow walls would bind them into shackles. All these would help them to hold
their heads high.

Q2. Where knowledge is free

Where the world has not been broken up into fragments

By narrow domestic walls.

a. Explain: Where knowledge is free.

Ans: Knowledge helps us to understand various things and everyone has the
right to gain knowledge, irrespective of their caste, creed and status.

The phrase Where knowledge is free occurs in Rabindranath Tagores poem

Where the Mind is Without Fear.

The poet wanted an atmosphere where knowledge would be freely accessible to

all and not restricted to a particular section of society. The opportunity of
gaining knowledge should not be given only to the rich and affluent sections.

It should be freely available to all- be it the rich or the poor, without any kind of
social barriers.

It should not be restricted by narrow ideas and social backwardness because it

is only the light of knowledge that can drive away the darkness of ignorance.
b. What are the narrow domestic walls that the poet speaks about?

Ans: The narrow domestic walls refer to the barriers and obstacles that do not
allow social progress.
They pose as a hindrance in the path of advancement. The narrow domestic
walls stand for narrow considerations of caste, creed, sex, religion, language,
race, geographical divisions, colour divide people instead of uniting them.

They are the narrow local divisions that actually separate and weaken us.
c. What according to the poet, breaks up the world into fragments?

Ans: The narrow domestic walls like differences in caste, creed, sex, religion,
language, race, geographical divisions, colour break up the world into
fragments.

They create differences among us and separate us. That is why, the poet
envisions a free country, devoid of all types of prejudices.
d. In what way can the narrow walls be harmful to a nation?

Ans: Fervent patriotism, love and mutual cooperation, peaceful habitation- all
these can help in uniting a nation.

However, the narrow domestic walls- differences in caste, creed, sex, religion,
language, race, geographical divisions, colour divide us. They bound us in the
traditional shackles of prejudices and superstitions. They can harm a nation by
refraining it from advancing further in the path of progress.

These walls make us conventional and rigid, opposed to new ideas and
thoughts.

Tagore wishes to eradicate the domestic walls in order to establish a democratic

society, devoid of any despotism.

Q3. Where words come out from the depth of truth

Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection

a. What do words come out from the depth of truth mean?

Ans: The words come out from the depth of truth mean words that are spoken
by an individual, must be forthright and sincere, it means when one is free from
doubt and he has nothing to hide. The words spoken by him will be clear and
distinct.

The words spoken by an individual, should come out straight from his heart and
he should always speak the truth, not being afraid of any consequences.
b. Why does the poet want the words to come out from the depth of truth?
Ans: The poet wants his countrymen to be fearless and confident. Thus he
wants words to come out from the depth of truth, words that are sincere and
honest, words that are devoid of deceit and falsity.
c. What does the poet want his countrymen to aim at?

Ans: The poet wants his countrymen to aim at perfection. He wants them to
stretch their arms tirelessly towards perfection. He wishes them to strive hard,
without any exhaustion till they attain full satisfaction in reaching perfection.
d. Name the figure of speech used in tireless striving stretches its arm.

Ans: The figure of speech used in tireless striving stretches its arm is
personification.

Personification is a figure of speech where living attributes are conferred upon

non-living things. It represents an abstract quality or idea as a person or
creature.

Here, tireless striving is personified like a human being stretching its arm to
reach its goal towards perfection, discarding all the old traditions and
prejudices.
e. What does the poet mean by tireless striving?

Ans: Tireless striving refers to working hard with full zeal and enthusiasm,
without getting tired at all.

This should be done to reach its goal towards perfection which freedom from the
oppression and rigidity.

Q4. Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way

Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit

a. What does the poet mean by clear stream of reason?

Ans: The phrase clear stream of reason appears in the poem Where the Mind is
without Fear.

The poet appreciates logic and reason. He knows that only logic and reason can
defeat old traditions and customs, superstitious rituals and narrow-
mindedness. The stream of reason must be clear and free flowing, without any
shackles.
b. Why has reason being compared to a clear stream?
Ans: The poet has compared reason to a clear stream because he wants the
countrymen to support logic and rationality and discard old, meaningless
conventions and customs.

Like a stream is crystal clear and free flowing, reason and logic allows us to be
free from impure ideas and thoughts. It enhances clarity of mind and discards
obscurity. It offers us a freedom from the narrow domestic walls such as caste,
creed, sex, religion, language, race, geographical divisions and colour.
c. Name the figure of speech used here in the line Where the clear stream
of reason.

Ans: The figure of speech used here is metaphor.

Metaphor is a figure of speech where an implied or hidden comparison is made

between two different things that are not related to each other but they share
some common characteristic features.

Here in this poem, reason has been compared to a clear stream.

The poet has compared reason to a clear stream because he wants the
countrymen to support logic and rationality and discard old, meaningless
conventions and customs. There should be a transparency in it, like the flowing
stream of water.

Like a stream is crystal clear and free flowing, reason and logic allows us to be
free from impure ideas and thoughts. It enhances clarity of mind and discards
obscurity. It offers us a freedom from the narrow domestic walls such as caste,
creed, sex, religion, language, race, geographical divisions and colour.
d. What is the importance of reason according to the poet?

Ans: Reason, according to the poet, is important because it enables a man to

think rationally. It helps the man to think logically, with a clarity of perception.

This will broaden his outlook and he will learn to leave aside superstitions and
dead rituals. He will be able to progress forward, with a clear bent of mind.
e. Explain Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit.

Ans: The line Into the dreary desert sand of dead habit appears in
Rabindranath Tagores Where the Mind is Without Fear.

It is a metaphor. The clear stream of reason and logic gets lost in the dreary
desert sand of outdated customs, blind superstitions and meaningless
conventions.
Their rational thinking must find its way out of the dead sand of blind beliefs
and should not get lost in the sand of dead habits and rituals.

The dead habits make the people weak confining them to the walls of shackles
and conventions. A man, trapped in the web of narrow-mindedness, cannot
prosper ever. Hence, Tagore wants his countrymen to be progressive and open to
new thoughts and ideas.

Q5. Where the mind is led forward by thee

Into ever-widening thought and action

Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake.

a. Who is thee here?

Ans: God, the Almighty is thee here.

b. Where does the poet want to be led?

Ans: The poet wants to be led into a world of freedom, a free world and not a
cloistered one.
c. Where will thee lead forward?

Ans: The poet wants thee to lead us forward, into an ever-widening thought and
action, into a heaven of freedom where fear does not exist.
d. What does the poet mean by ever-widening thought and action?

Ans: Ever-widening thought and action- the phrase appears in the poem Where
the Mind is Without Fear.

`The poet wants his people to express their opinion freely. Their thought and
action must be broad and wide.

Every individual must always aim for excellence in every sphere of his life. The
poet wants his country to be awakened where God will lead his people into an
ideal heaven where they are free and strive hard. God will guide them in the
progressive path of thought and action. They will be thoughtful as well as ready
to put those thoughts into actions that will help them to attain true freedom.
e. What does the poet mean by let my country awake?

Ans: The poem was written when India was facing oppression in the hands of
the British. India had lost her supremacy and her glory. She was in a deep
slumber of ignorance.

Thus, the poet wants his country to awake from her slumber, he wants his
country to awake into that heaven of freedom where there would be no fear or
oppression, where there would be no narrow domestic walls, where people
would be guided by God and where there would be the true light of freedom.
f. Who is Father here?

Ans: God is referred as Father here.

g. Describe the heaven of freedom

Ans: The heaven of freedom is described as an abode where the individuals have
attained freedom in its truest sense Freedom from fear oppression and
discrimination.

Tagore has written this poem when India was in the grip of the British. His
countrymen had lost confidence and the narrow domestic walls had broken up
the world into fragments.

Thus, the poet visualizes a heaven of freedom where the people are free and have
abandoned all fears and prejudices. It is a place where the clear stream of
reason reigns over the dreary desert sand of dead habit. It is a place where
people live with dignity, selfrespect and pride.

Tagores heaven of freedom will have no walls of separation and people will rise
up to a new hope, radiance and confidence.
h. Name the volume in which the poem has been included.

Ans: This poem was included in the volume called Naibedya. The original poem
bears the title Prarthana, meaning a prayer.