Geography Lesson Summary Class 8 English

Introduction

The title "Geography Lesson" is a poem, which is written by Zulfikar Ghose, who was born in India in 1947 before independence; after independence, he settled in Pakistan, and then from there, he dwelled in the USA. The poet Zulfikar Ghose is famous for his work in poems, novels, and essays, from which "Geography Lesson" is one of the notable creations and poetic masterpieces that brings up the beauty of our Earth's Geography and also brings up an unanswered question "Why Do Humans Fight (War)?" The poem "Geography Lesson" has twenty-four (24) lines and can be divided into three (3) verses. In this article, we will cover the richness and depth of Ghose's poem, with the understanding message hidden in the poem, which we will describe in the conclusion.

The poet was traveling in a jet, flying above the cities and geographical figures; he describes the cities and geographical figures like rivers, civilizations, and agricultural fields, and he also describes walls as the reference to borders in countries and hatred among mankind.

Explanation

The poet starts the poem by addressing that he is in a jet and the jet is flying in the sky; he says that it is clear why that city was developed or built the way it is now, but he does not tell the reason. He mentioned that at this height, the cities looked very small; he also says that from that height, the length of one (1) mile seems equal to six (6) inches. He also mentioned that the cities were built unplanned, without style, and in a haphazard way.

The poet says that when the jet attained a height of ten thousand feet (10,000 ft.), now he answers the question raised in the above paragraph "Why did the cities build the way they are now?" He answers it with, at that height, he was able to see that the cities were built near water bodies and on the bank of rivers, so it was clear that large cities are built or get developed near a water body, as water is the basic need of every human being, at that time he gets to know that fertile lands and water is the prime factor of human existence in this world.

The poet mentioned that when the jet rose six (6) miles more in height, it became clear to the poet that the Earth is round in shape; he also describes that from that height, he could see the whole Earth and concluded that on Earth, the quantity of water is much larger as compared to land, as we know that Earth has one-third of Earth as land and has two third as water. The poet thinks and is unable to understand why human that lives on the same Earth constructed boundaries, fences, and wall to determine their area of control; he also says that human being has quite a knowledge of Earth, its structure, shape, nations, and history of civilizations.

But despite all this knowledge, human beings were never able to understand and attain peace on our beautiful planet Earth; he is not able to get the main reason behind the hatred of a human being for another human being. He also raises concern that humans have divided and fragmented Earth which is one; he also feels that the humans living on Earth are not living in harmony because of their own mere reason; if we humans keep aside our differences and selfishness, this planet will become a wonderful place to live.

Reading between the Lines

1. As the poet says in a metamorphic way that he is in a jet, using that to describe the world map.
2. The poet mentioned cities; he is probably describing major cities in the world, which are London, New York, Cairo, and in India - Kashi (Varanasi, UP), Prayagraj, and many more.
3. When the writer says the Earth is round. He mentioned it because there are so many people that still believe that Earth is flat.
4. The poet mentioned discrimination among human beings; he must be saying about World Wars.
5. The poet mentioned walls and fences; he was probably saying about the borders of different counties.

Conclusion

This poem concludes that we have limited natural sources, and we must use them wisely. There can be peace and harmony all over the world, but only if human beings try to understand the pain and problem of each other and do not fight over trivial things; by doing this, Earth will become a beautiful place to live in.