Vocation: NCERT Class 5 English Poem (Santoor Chapter 9)

etmantra3 Nov 20265 min read

Children often look at grown-ups at work and wish they could do the same. In this poem by Rabindranath Tagore, a child watches a bangle seller, a gardener and a watchman, and dreams of their freedom. It is a lovely start for talking about jobs and dreams.

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From NCERT’s new English book Santoor for Class 5, unit “Work is Worship”. Chapter 9.

What your child learns

Making wishes with 'I wish I were...'
Names of jobs: hawker, gardener, watchman
Telling the time of day: morning, afternoon, evening
Thinking about the work people do around us

What the poem is about

The poem follows a child through one day. At ten in the morning, on the way to school, the child meets a hawker calling out about crystal bangles. The hawker never seems to hurry and has nowhere he must be. The child wishes to be a hawker. At four, coming home, the child sees a gardener digging. He gets dusty, sunburnt or wet, and nobody scolds him. The child wishes to be a gardener.

At night, sent to bed, the child sees a watchman walking up and down the dark lane, swinging his lantern. The street-lamp looks like a giant with one red eye. The watchman never has to go to bed, and the child wishes to be a watchman too. The poem shows how a child sees only the free and fun side of other people's work.

New words, with Hindi meanings

vocation: the work a person does (हिंदी: पेशा)
gong: a metal plate that rings loudly when hit (हिंदी: घंटा)
lane: a narrow street (हिंदी: गली)
hawker: a person who sells things by walking around and calling out (हिंदी: फेरीवाला)
spade: a tool for digging soil (हिंदी: फावड़ा)
lantern: a lamp you can carry (हिंदी: लालटेन)
giant: a huge, very strong creature in stories (हिंदी: दैत्य)
watchman: a person who guards a place at night (हिंदी: चौकीदार)

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.

Whom does the child meet on the way to school?
Why does the child want to be a gardener?
What does the street-lamp look like to the child?
What work would you like to do when you grow up? Why?

Answers for parents

A hawker selling crystal bangles.
The gardener can dig and get dirty, and no one scolds him if he gets hot in the sun or wet.
It looks like a giant with one red eye in its head.
For example: I would like to be a doctor because I want to help sick people.

Grammar corner: Making wishes with 'I wish I were...'

When we wish for something that is not true now, we can say 'I wish I were...'. We use 'were' here even after 'I'. The child in the poem makes three wishes like this.

I wish I were a gardener with a big spade.
I wish I were a bird flying over the lane.
I wish I were tall enough to light the street-lamp.

Practice at home

Fill in the blank: I wish I ___ a watchman with a lantern.
Match the worker to the thing: (a) hawker (b) gardener (c) watchman — 1. lantern 2. spade 3. bangles
Say aloud your own wish starting with 'I wish I were...'.

Answers: 1. were · 2. a-3, b-2, c-1 · 3. Sample answer: I wish I were a pilot.

Try this

Play 'Guess my job'. One person acts out a worker without speaking: digging like a gardener, swinging a lantern like a watchman, or calling out like a hawker. The others guess the job in English. Then each person says what they like and what might be hard about that job.

Tip for parents

Ask in Hindi first: 'तुम बड़े होकर क्या बनना चाहते हो?' Let your child answer in Hindi, then help them say it in English with 'I wish I were...' or 'I want to be...'. Share your own work too, in simple words, and praise every try.

Questions parents ask

What is the poem Vocation about?

A child sees a hawker, a gardener and a watchman during the day and wishes to be each of them, because their lives seem free and without rules.

Who wrote the poem Vocation?

The poem in the book is by Rabindranath Tagore.

Is Vocation in the new NCERT book?

Yes. It is Chapter 9 of NCERT's new Santoor book for Class 5, in Unit 5, 'Work is Worship'.

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