The Cherry Tree: NCERT Class 8 English Story (Poorvi)

etmantra3 Nov 20267 min read

One small cherry seed, a boy and his grandfather: that is all this gentle story needs. Students watch the seed grow, year by year, into a tree full of blossoms, birds and bees, and see how patience and care make something truly our own. Along the way they meet lovely describing words and practise the past tenses that tell a story.

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From NCERT’s new English book Poorvi for Class 8, unit “Environment”. Unit 4.

What your child learns

Rich describing words from the hills: stunted, yielding, foliage, sturdy, reclining
Past tenses for telling a story: simple past, past progressive and past perfect
Taste words, antonyms, syllables (beats in a word) and punctuation marks such as the colon and semicolon
Writing a magazine article with a title, byline and four clear paragraphs, and speaking about Van Mahotsav

What the story is about

Rakesh lives with his grandfather on the edge of Mussoorie, because there is no school in his parents' village. When he is six, he buys a bunch of cherries in the bazaar and keeps the last seed, wondering if it is lucky. Grandfather tells him that luck only comes when you put a thing to use, so Rakesh presses the seed into a soft, shady corner of the garden and forgets it. Next spring a tiny tree comes up. Rakesh waters it and rings it with pebbles, but a goat eats its leaves, and later a woman cutting grass slices it in two with her scythe. Each time, the tree refuses to die and sends out new shoots.

As Rakesh grows, the tree grows with him. It gets its first visitors, a praying mantis and a hairy caterpillar, bends under the winter snow, and when Rakesh is nine it shows its first pale pink blossom. Soon it is taller than both of them, full of bees and of birds feasting on its sour little cherries. One evening, lying under its leaves, Rakesh asks why this tree is so special when the forest has so many. Grandfather says it is because they planted it themselves, and Rakesh, touching its bark, wonders if this is how it feels to be God. The story by Ruskin Bond shows how caring for nature builds a deep bond, between people and trees and between a boy and his grandfather.

New words, with Hindi meanings

stunted: stopped from growing to its full size (हिंदी: बौना, रुका हुआ)
outskirts: the edge of a town or city (हिंदी: बाहरी इलाका)
tang: a strong, sharp taste (हिंदी: तीखा-खट्टा स्वाद)
yielding: soft; giving way when pressed (हिंदी: नरम, दबने वाला)
plodded: walked slowly and heavily (हिंदी: धीरे-धीरे चला)
scythe: a tool with a long curved blade for cutting grass (हिंदी: दराँती, हँसिया)
foliage: the green leaves of plants and trees (हिंदी: पत्तियाँ, पत्ते)
sturdy: strong and healthy (हिंदी: मज़बूत, हट्टा-कट्टा)
grumpy: bad-tempered and easily annoyed (हिंदी: चिड़चिड़ा)
reclining: lying or leaning back to rest (हिंदी: आराम से टेक लगाए)

Talk about it

Ask these aloud after reading or watching. Let your child answer in English if they can, or mix in their home language. Both help.

Why did Rakesh live with his grandfather in Mussoorie?
What did Grandfather say about luck, and what did Rakesh do because of it?
What troubles did the young cherry tree face, and how did it survive?
Why did Rakesh and Grandfather feel the cherry tree was so special?
Have you ever grown a plant or looked after something living? How did it make you feel?

Answers for parents

There were no schools in his parents' village, and they wanted him to study. So, when he was old enough for school, they sent him to stay with his grandfather near Mussoorie.
Grandfather said that nothing is lucky if you put it away; you must put it to some use. So Rakesh planted the cherry seed in a soft, shady corner of the garden.
A goat ate all its leaves, a woman cutting grass cut it in two with her scythe, and heavy winter snow bent it low. Each time it grew new shoots, because, as Grandfather said, cherry trees are tough.
They had planted it themselves and watched it grow from one small seed. Their care and patience made it their own, unlike the many trees in the forest.
For example: I planted a tulsi seed in a pot on our balcony. I watered it every morning, and when the first two tiny leaves came up, I felt proud and happy, as if I had made something new.

Grammar corner: Past tenses: simple past, past progressive and past perfect

We use the simple past for a finished action (he planted, she cut). The past progressive (was/were + -ing) shows an action that was going on at a time in the past (he was walking home). The past perfect (had + past participle) shows an action that happened before another past action (the tree had grown before he came back).

Rakesh watered the little tree every morning.
Grandfather was reading in his cane chair when the bees arrived.
By the time the rains ended, the tree had grown taller than the pebbles around it.

Practice at home

Fill in the right form of the verb: When Rakesh came home, Grandfather ___ (sleep) under the cherry tree.
Give the opposite: sturdy, grumpy, sheltered.
Make a sentence with a taste word for each: lemon, jaggery, neem leaves.

Answers: 1. was sleeping (past progressive: the action was going on) · 2. sturdy – shaky (or weak); grumpy – cheerful; sheltered – unprotected · 3. For example: Lemon is sour, jaggery is sweet, and neem leaves are bitter.

Try this

Plant a seed together, just like Rakesh. Take a seed from a fruit you eat at home (lemon, chilli, tomato or papaya), press it into a pot of soft soil, and keep a 'tree diary'. Every few days, write one line in the past tense about what happened: 'Today I watered it', 'The first leaf had come up by Sunday', 'I was checking it when a bee came'. After a month, read the diary aloud as a story.

Tip for parents

Tell the story in Hindi first, in a few lines: राकेश ने चेरी का एक बीज बोया; बकरी ने पत्ते खा लिए, किसी ने उसे काट दिया, फिर भी पेड़ बढ़ता रहा. Then ask your child to tell it to you in English, even if some Hindi words slip in. Ask 'दादाजी ने भाग्य के बारे में क्या कहा था?' and let your child answer in English, and praise every attempt.

Questions parents ask

What is the story The Cherry Tree about?

It is about Rakesh, a boy who lives with his grandfather near Mussoorie. He plants a cherry seed, and over the years the little tree survives a goat, a scythe and heavy snow to become a tall tree full of blossoms, birds and cherries.

Who wrote The Cherry Tree, and what is its message?

The story is by Ruskin Bond. It shows that things grow with patience and care, that luck comes from putting things to use, and that people who care for nature feel a deep bond with it.

Is The Cherry Tree in the new NCERT book?

Yes. It is Chapter 10 of Poorvi, NCERT's new English book for Class 8, in Unit 4 (Environment).

Learn every Class 8 chapter with CALP

Every chapter of Poorvi, NCERT’s new Class 8 book, with notes in English and Hindi, say-it-aloud practice with a score, listening, grammar, speaking and writing with feedback. ₹1,599 for the whole year.

See the free lessons and enrol →