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Mother Tongue — Padma Sachdev

🎓 Class 11 English CBSE Theory Ch 14 — Poetry: Mother Tongue ⏱ ~33 min
🌐 Language: [gtranslate]

This CBSE English Passage Assessment will be based on: Mother Tongue — Padma Sachdev

Assessment Format:
• 2 Short Answer Questions (2 marks each) = 4 marks
• 2 Fill in the Blanks Questions (1 mark each) = 2 marks
• 2 Short Answer Questions (1 mark each) = 2 marks
• 2 Multiple Choice Questions (1 mark each) = 2 marks
Total: 8 Questions, 10 Marks

This CBSE English Grammar Assessment will be based on: Mother Tongue — Padma Sachdev

Assessment Format:
• 10 Randomized Grammar Questions (1 mark each)
• Question Types: Fill in the Blanks, MCQs, Error Identification, Reported Speech, Sentence Completion
Total: 10 Questions, 10 Marks

This English Vocabulary assessment will be based on: Mother Tongue — Padma Sachdev
Targeting Vocabulary & Usage with Intermediate difficulty.

Before You Read — Mother Tongue

Padma Sachdev's poem, translated from Dogri, is an allegory of a poet's relationship with her mother tongue — expressed through the central symbol of a quill cut from a reed.

1. Think of your own mother tongue — the language you first heard and spoke at home. What does it mean to you? Is it just a means of communication, or something more — an identity, a home, a way of belonging?

A mother tongue is not merely a tool for communication — it is the language in which one first experiences the world, forms emotional bonds, tells oneself stories. To lose or be deprived of one's mother tongue is experienced as a deep personal loss, an erasure of part of one's identity. Sachdev writes from this experience — Dogri, her mother tongue, lacks its own script and has been written in borrowed scripts for centuries.

2. The poem is an allegory — every element stands for something beyond itself. Before reading, consider: what might a quill (writing instrument) symbolise in a poem about language? What might a reed that gives its quill symbolise?

Quill: the instrument of writing — the poet's pen, the medium through which language finds expression. Reed: the natural source from which the quill comes — nature, the body of the language itself. When the reed gives its quill, it makes a sacrifice: cutting off part of itself to give the poet the means to write. This resonates with the idea that a language gives itself to those who use it.

3. In the poem, the poet addresses her mother tongue Dogri as a "Shahni" — a queen or wealthy patroness. The poet describes herself as a servant working for this Shahni. What does this relationship between poet and language suggest?

By making the language the "mistress" and herself the servant, Sachdev reverses the conventional view that the poet controls language. Instead, the language owns the poet — she serves Dogri, not the other way around. This captures the poet's deep sense of obligation, devotion, and belonging to her mother tongue. The "urgency" in the poem comes from this service: she must write in Dogri because Dogri is calling for her.

4. Dogri is a language listed in Schedule VIII of the Indian Constitution, spoken in Jammu, Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Punjab. It does not have its own script — it is written in either Devanagari or Persian script. How does this background inform the poem's urgency?

The deprivation of a native script (the Sharade script, which evolved from Brahmi, was replaced by Persian and later Devanagari) means that Dogri has always written itself in borrowed forms. The poem mourns this displacement while insisting on the vitality of the language itself. The urgency — "she must be looking for me" — reflects a poet's sense of duty to a language that has been waiting, script-less, for its writers to serve it.

About the Poet

PS
Padma Sachdev
Born 1940 Indian (Jammu) Sahitya Akademi Award Dogri & Hindi

Padma Sachdev was born in 1940 in Jammu and writes in both Dogri and Hindi. She received the Sahitya Akademi Award at the remarkably young age of thirty for her first collection of Dogri poems — one of the earliest recipients in that language. Her poetry is known for its lyrical intensity, its celebration of nature and the Dogra landscape, and its passionate commitment to the Dogri language and its preservation. The poem "Mother Tongue," translated from the original Dogri, bemoans the deprivation of Dogri of its native Sharade script — which evolved from Brahmi around the time Dogri developed, was once widely used, but was replaced first by the Persian script and later by Devanagari. Dogri is now listed in Schedule VIII of the Constitution of India.

Historical & Cultural Context — Dogri and the Sharade Script

Dogri is a language spoken in Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, and Punjab. Its earliest mention is in Amir Khusro's list of Indian languages. It evolved its own script — Sharade — from the original Brahmi. Once widely used by people of all religions in the valley, the Sharade script was gradually replaced by the Persian script (due to Mughal influence), and later by Devanagari and Urdu. Presently both Persian and Devanagari scripts are used for Dogri. This dispossession of its native script is the background to Sachdev's poem — a language that must write itself in borrowed alphabets, waiting for poets who will serve it faithfully.

Mother Tongue — Complete Poem (Annotated)

Translation Note The poem is translated from the original Dogri. The translation itself is an act of the very devotion the poem describes — bringing Dogri into English so that its concerns can be heard more widely. The reed and quill are central allegorical symbols throughout.
Mother Tongue
— Padma Sachdev | translated from Dogri
Section 1 — The Request: Asking for a Quill
1I approached a stem 2Swinging on a reed Symbolism 3And asked him 4To give me a quill. Symbolism
Section 2 — The Reed's Impatient Question
5Irritated, he said Personification 6I gave you one only the other day 7A new one, what have you done with it? 8Are you some sort of an accountant 9With some Shah 10Writing account books 11Where you need a new pen 12Every other day he asked.
Section 3 — The Poet's Answer: Serving the Shahni
13No, I don't work for a Shah 14I said, but for a Shahni, very kind, Allegory 15Very well off 16And I am not the only one 17Working for her 18She has many servants 19Ever ready to do her bidding 20That Shahni is my mother tongue 21Dogri Revelation 22Give me, a quill, quickly 23She must be looking for me Urgency
Section 4 — The Reed's Sacrifice and Solidarity
24The reed cut off its hand Metaphor 25Gave it to me and said 26Take it 27I too am her servant. Solidarity

Section-by-Section Analysis

Sections 1–2 — The Reed's Impatience: Poetry Consumes Quickly

"Are you some sort of an accountant / With some Shah / Writing account books / Where you need a new pen / Every other day?"

The poem opens in the middle of a familiar exchange — the poet approaching the reed to ask for another quill. The reed's irritation is that of someone whose gifts are consumed quickly and without apparent account. The reed's question — "Are you an accountant needing a new pen every other day?" — is a challenge about purpose and rate of consumption. The accountant comparison is the reed's misunderstanding: an accountant writes for commerce, for records, for a Shah (a wealthy male employer). The poet's use of quills is entirely different — but the reed cannot yet see this distinction. The exchange is naturalistically rendered, the reed as a character both grumbling and giving.

Section 3 — The Revelation: Dogri as Shahni

"That Shahni is my mother tongue / Dogri / Give me, a quill, quickly / She must be looking for me"

The poem's central allegorical reveal: the poet does not work for a Shah (male authority, commerce, record-keeping) but for a Shahni — a queen, a wealthy, kind, powerful patroness. The Shahni "has many servants / Ever ready to do her bidding" — Dogri has many writers, all devoted to serving the language. The naming of "Dogri" — bare, on its own line — is a moment of declaration: the mother tongue is announced by name, given its proper dignity. "She must be looking for me" conveys the urgency: the language is waiting for the poet's service. Quills are consumed quickly because the language demands constant, dedicated work.

Section 4 — The Reed's Sacrifice: Solidarity in Service

"The reed cut off its hand / Gave it to me and said / Take it / I too am her servant."

The poem's most powerful moment: "The reed cut off its hand" — a dramatic metaphor. The reed gives not just a quill but its own "hand" — a part of its body, a sacrifice. To give a quill is to cut off a part of the reed's own stem (this is literally how quills were made — cutting a hollow stem at an angle to create a nib). The sacrifice is therefore both literal (the reed is cut) and metaphorical (it gives part of itself). The final line — "I too am her servant" — establishes the solidarity between poet and reed, between writer and medium. Both are servants of Dogri. The poem ends with this shared devotion, which transforms the earlier irritation into something much deeper: a fellowship in service to the mother tongue.

Allegory Map — "Mother Tongue"

Every element in the poem carries a double meaning — literal and allegorical.

Literal Element Allegorical Meaning Reed / Stem The Dogri language itself / nature Quill The power / means of poetic expression Shahni (queen/patroness) Dogri — the mother tongue as ruler Reed cuts off its hand Sacrifice of self in service to language Poet + Reed = servants All who serve the mother tongue are united

Vocabulary Engine

quill
noun — writing instrument
A writing instrument made from a large feather or hollow reed, with the tip cut to form a nib. Before the metal pen, quills were the primary writing instruments for centuries. In the poem: both literally a pen and symbolically the means of poetic expression in the mother tongue.
"Give me a quill, quickly / She must be looking for me" — urgency: the means of serving the language is needed now.
reed
noun — plant / symbol
A tall, hollow-stemmed grass (like bamboo) that grows near water. Reeds were historically used to make quill pens — their hollow stems were cut at an angle to create a nib. In Islamic and Sufi poetry, the reed (ney) is a central symbol of longing and separation from one's origin.
Rumi's Masnavi opens with the reed crying for its origin — an echo present in Sachdev's poem too.
Shah / Shahni
noun — Persian/Urdu royalty
Shah: a king or wealthy male employer (from Persian). Shahni: a queen, or the wife of a Shah — a patroness. The contrast is central: the accountant serves the Shah (commerce, patriarchal power); the poet serves the Shahni (the mother tongue, which is feminine, nurturing, and royal).
"That Shahni is my mother tongue / Dogri" — the language elevated to queenhood.
bidding
noun — commands
Commands, instructions from a master or employer. "Ever ready to do her bidding" — the poets who serve Dogri are always prepared to carry out whatever the language requires of them. The word implies complete devotion and willing service.
The relationship is one of chosen service — the poets are willing servants, not compelled ones.
accountant
noun — profession
Someone who keeps financial records and accounts. The reed's misunderstanding: it assumes the poet uses quills the way an accountant uses pens — for commercial record-keeping, mechanical and repetitive. The comparison is deliberately reductive, which the poet corrects by revealing the true nature of her "employer."
The contrast between accountant and poet defines the poem's core distinction: commerce vs. art, Shah vs. Shahni.
Dogri
proper noun — language
A language of the Jammu region, listed in Schedule VIII of the Indian Constitution. Evolved from Sanskrit; once written in the Sharade script (derived from Brahmi), later in Persian and Devanagari scripts. Padma Sachdev is its most celebrated poet.
Dogri stands alone on its own line in the poem — a declaration, a naming, a claim of belonging.

Literature CBQ — Extract-Based (CBSE Format)

CBQ 1

Reference to Context — The Reed's Question

"Irritated, he said / I gave you one only the other day / A new one, what have you done with it? / Are you some sort of an accountant / With some Shah / Writing account books / Where you need a new pen / Every other day he asked."
Q1. What does the quill symbolise in the poem? Why does the poet need a new one so quickly? (2 marks)
L2 Understand
Model Answer: The quill symbolises the means of poetic expression in the mother tongue — the instrument through which the poet serves the language. She needs a new one quickly because true service to a mother tongue is continuous and intensive — poetry demands constant work, constant writing, consuming the means of expression at a rapid pace. Unlike an accountant's repetitive pen-work, the poet's quill is worn out by creative devotion. The urgency "she must be looking for me" implies the language is constantly calling for the poet's service, requiring the instrument to be always renewed.
Q2. Why does the reed compare the poet to an accountant working for a Shah? What is ironic about this comparison? (2 marks)
L4 Analyse
Model Answer: The reed assumes that anyone who uses quills at such a rapid pace must be doing mechanical, repetitive work — like an accountant maintaining commercial records for a wealthy employer. The irony is that the poet's actual "employer" — her mother tongue Dogri — is infinitely more demanding and more worthy than any Shah. The accountant comparison reduces poetic service to commerce, which the poem systematically corrects. Furthermore, the reed's assumption that fast consumption = commercial work reveals a misunderstanding of the nature of artistic devotion, which can be just as consuming as commercial labour — more so, in fact.
Q3. How is personification used in the poem? Give two specific examples and explain their effect. (3 marks)
L4 Analyse
Model Answer: Example 1: The reed is personified as a character who can speak, feel irritation, ask questions, and make decisions — "Irritated, he said... Are you some sort of an accountant?" This transforms the natural object (a reed) into a participant in a conversation, making the allegory feel like a lived interaction rather than an abstract lesson. Example 2: Dogri (the mother tongue) is personified as a Shahni — a queen with servants, human needs, and the capacity to "look for" her servants ("she must be looking for me"). This elevates the abstract concept of a mother tongue to a living, royal, and demanding presence. Together, the personifications create the poem's intimate, conversational quality — making it a story of relationships rather than a meditation on language.
CBQ 2

Reference to Context — The Reed's Sacrifice

"That Shahni is my mother tongue / Dogri / Give me, a quill, quickly / She must be looking for me / The reed cut off its hand / Gave it to me and said / Take it / I too am her servant."
Q1. What is the significance of "The reed cut off its hand"? What does this sacrifice represent? (3 marks)
L5 Evaluate
Model Answer: The sacrifice of the reed's "hand" (a part of its own body — the stem cut to make a quill) operates simultaneously as literal fact and powerful metaphor. Literally: making a quill requires cutting the reed, damaging it. Metaphorically: the reed gives not just an object but a part of itself — it makes a bodily sacrifice. "Hand" is particularly significant — the hand is the body part most associated with creative work, writing, crafting. By cutting off its hand, the reed gives away its own creative capacity so the poet can write. This transforms a simple supply of a writing tool into an act of profound solidarity and self-giving. The sacrifice also parallels the poet's own sacrifice in serving the mother tongue — both poet and reed give themselves to Dogri.
Q2. "I too am her servant." How does this final line transform the poem's meaning? (3 marks)
L5 Evaluate
Model Answer: The final line transforms the poem from a simple request-and-answer exchange into a declaration of universal solidarity in service to the mother tongue. The reed, which began as a slightly irritated supplier of writing tools, is revealed to be — like the poet — a devotee of Dogri. The word "too" is crucial: it establishes fellowship between poet and reed, between the user of language and the medium through which language is expressed. Nature (the reed) and the poet are co-workers, both answerable to the same mistress. This gives the poem a collective dimension: service to a mother tongue is not a solitary devotion but a shared calling. The brevity of the final lines — "Take it / I too am her servant" — gives them epigrammatic force, turning a domestic exchange into a manifesto of linguistic loyalty.

Comprehension — Understanding the Poem

Question 1
The quill is the central element in the poem — what does it symbolise?
3 marks | 60 words
The quill symbolises the means of poetic expression in the mother tongue — the instrument through which the poet serves Dogri. At a deeper level, it symbolises creative capacity itself: the ability to write, to give form to the language, to fulfil one's duty as a poet. The reed's sacrifice of its "hand" to provide the quill elevates this symbol further — the instrument of writing is also an act of devotion and self-giving.
Question 2
There is a sense of urgency in the poet's request. What is the reason for this?
3 marks | 60 words
The urgency comes from the poet's sense of duty to her mother tongue: "She must be looking for me." Dogri — personified as a Shahni — is waiting for the poet's service. The language has many servants and demands constant work. Consuming quills quickly is not waste but evidence of devoted service. The urgency is the urgency of a loyal servant to a beloved, demanding mistress.
Question 3
How has the poet brought out her emotional attachment to her mother tongue?
4 marks | 80 words
The emotional attachment is expressed through the allegory itself: the mother tongue is not described abstractly but as a living presence — a Shahni who is "very kind, very well off," who has servants and who is actively looking for the poet. The poet identifies herself as one of Dogri's servants, eager to return to work. The urgency, the quick consumption of quills, the special reverence of naming Dogri on its own line — all convey the depth of belonging. The language is not merely a tool but a home, an identity, a sovereign authority the poet joyfully obeys.
Question 4
How has personification been used in this poem? Explain with two examples.
4 marks | 80 words
Personification attributes human qualities to non-human things. In "Mother Tongue": (i) The reed is personified as a speaking, feeling, decision-making character — "Irritated, he said..." — giving it emotions, questions, and the capacity for sacrifice. (ii) Dogri (the language) is personified as a Shahni — a queen who has servants, who is kind and wealthy, and who actively looks for her poet. These personifications make the poem's allegory feel vivid and lived-in: the abstract relationship between poet and language becomes a concrete, intimate, human relationship.

Writing Task

Creative/Reflective Writing: A Letter to Your Mother Tongue

Sachdev writes of her mother tongue as a Shahni — a beloved sovereign she serves. Write a letter (120–150 words) to your own mother tongue, addressing it as a living presence. You may write in English or your mother tongue.

Format Guidance:
  • Address the language directly (as "you" or by name)
  • Include: what the language means to you / a memory or moment when it felt most alive / what you owe it or what it has given you
  • Use at least one personification — give the language a human quality
  • End with a declaration of belonging or devotion

FAQ

What is Mother Tongue — Padma Sachdev about?

Mother Tongue — Padma Sachdev is a lesson from the NCERT English textbook covering important literary and language concepts with vocabulary, literary devices, and exercises.

What vocabulary is in Mother Tongue — Padma Sachdev?

Key vocabulary words from Mother Tongue — Padma Sachdev are highlighted with contextual meanings and usage examples throughout the lesson.

What literary devices are in Mother Tongue — Padma Sachdev?

Mother Tongue — Padma Sachdev uses various literary devices including imagery, symbolism, and figurative language identified with coloured tags.

What exercises are in Mother Tongue — Padma Sachdev?

Exercises include extract-based comprehension questions, grammar workshops, vocabulary activities, and writing tasks with model answers.

How does Mother Tongue — Padma Sachdev help exam prep?

Mother Tongue — Padma Sachdev includes CBSE-format questions and model answers following Bloom's Taxonomy levels L1-L6.

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