Dilip Chitre Father Returning Home

Answer 1

Dilip Chitre's poem "Father Returning Home" is selected from "Travelling in A Cage". It speaks about the dull and exhausting daily routine of a commuter. Delinked from his family he is left with himself to talk. Dreaming about his ancestors and grand children he communicates with the dead 'yesterdays and unborn tomorrows.' His alienation is complete and irreversible. Sleep and dream come as sweet relief from a world that is alien to him. The theme of the poem is "Man's estrangement from a man-made world."

Answer 2

Father Returning Home is a poem written by Dilip Chitre. The main idea of this poem is 'Man's estrangement from a man-made world'. Here the father comes home late tired with his pants are soggy and his black raincoat is stained with mud and his bag is falling apart-He never cares the scenes of the outer world when he travels. Because he is always musing about his family. He is so true about his family, yet no one in his family realizes his care for them.

He gets only the weak tea and stale chapati. (Look, he is the only one who works hard for his family yet he does not get even good food.) The lines like 'The cold water running over his brown hands, A few droplets cling to the greying hairs on his wrists' are used to add to the effect of the life and the world of poor father. His children are not ready to share jokes with him-their sullenness shows the unspoken resentment. And finally, even when he goes to bed the story is not different. There he receives only noised receiving, not even a good program from the radio. In short the father has no joy in his life; there is no closeness between the father and the children. The only thing that changes the mood of the poem is when he thinks about his dead yesterdays (ancestors) and unborn tomorrows (grand-children and nomads) -Here one thing must be noted that he dreams about these people not about his own children. Patel wanted to convey the idea of unseen sincerity of millions of fathers who strive hard for their family and their people.

Contributed by: Anjoe Paul, Kerala State.