1.In Tagore’s short story Balai, the protagonist Balai loved the trees and flowers in his uncle’s garden. When a sapling sprouted in the middle of the pathway, Balai started tending to it. His uncle wanted to uproot the sapling but Balai requested him not to. But he with his gardener uprooted the sapling in the boy’s absence leading to a heartbreak. Name the sapling.

2.A sapling sprouted in front of the poet’s house named Konarak and grew into a tree. When the monsoon got over, a Malatilata was found twining around the simool tree in close embrace. Next spring, the simool was in full bloom, and its trunk was covered with rain soaked Malati flowers. Tagore’s joy knew no bounds. He wrote a beautiful lyric about this wedding of simool and malati that occurred every year. However, in this poem, he changed the name of the host tree. Name the tree mentioned in the lyrics of the popular Rabindrasangeet.

3.Tagore liked four tall trees, whose names end with the letter . He has used these four trees in many of his poems and songs. Three of the trees are Shal, Piyal and Tal. Name the fourth tree.

4.In a poem for children, Tagore mentions seven brothers and one sister. The brothers are one kind of flower while the sister is another. Name the flowers.

5.Once the poet decided to spend a few days in a lonely corner of Santhal Pargana. His luggage included a small potted plant. He could not find a good house to rent, so he decided to live in a tent near a small river under a shady sal tree. Squirrels used to scamper around all day, while the mountains could be seen in the horizon. A santhal girl used to come as domestic help. The poet watered the potted plant daily and one day a flower bud appeared. Tagore decided to stay till the flower bloomed. One day he realised that the flower would bloom in the afternoon. To his surprise, the flower was not there in the afternoon. He called the girl; she came and asked: “Babu, dekechhili kene? (Why did you call me, Babu?)” He saw the red flower tucked over her ear, her dark face brightened by the red hue of the flower. The poet replied: “Ei jonye (For this reason).” He thought that was the right place for the flower. The poet has written a poem on this flower, included in Punascha. Can you name the flower?

6.Tagore loved a sweet-smelling creamish white soft flower that blossoms by the magic touch of autumn dew. This flower stays on the tree for a very short time, blooms in the evening and falls off by sunrise. Name the flower.

7.In the dance drama Shyama, when Shyama left the court, the Kotal asks the question “Bon hote kyano gelo, ….. manjari”. With which flower did he compare the beauty of Shyama?

8.Tagore had a great fascination for blue flowers. Seated atop of a small hillock in Shillong, he noticed very small blue flowers near his feet. He got off the chair and minutely observed the flowers, which were bell-shaped with five blue petals and five golden yellow stamens inside. He wrote: Durer shunye apnare se prochar nahi kore/ Matir kachhe nato hole pare/ Snigdho sara dey se dheere dhulishayan theke/ Neelbaraner phuler buke ektukhani sonar bindu aanke. Identify the flower. It is a medicinal plant of high repute.

9.The poet came across this tree near the Kushthia railway station in Nadia (modern Bangladesh) on his way to Calcutta from Silaidaha. It was heralding the advent of spring with luxurious sweet-scented flowers. The small tree full of flowers was standing like a queen. The poet was happy to see the flowers. In his teenage days, he had read about this flower in Meghdootam, where Kalidasa has written of a Yaksha (celestial musician) banished from his lovely Himalayan kingdom and taken shelter in Ramgiri Parbat. He missed his wife a lot and wanted to send a message through Megh (cloud) to her in Alokapuri. Yaksha welcomed Megh with palms full of this flower, saying:

.O friend! Be my saviour
Speed my messages to my distant home, where my wife is alone (translated).

Tagore wrote a poem on this flower, and called it “rabir adorini”. Name the flower.

10.In the story Laboratory, the poet has mentioned two very rare and exotic flowers. Can you name them?

11.In his song Megher kole rode hensechhe badal gyachhe tuti, the children make boats out of the leaves of a plant bearing sweet-scented flowers and release them in Taldighi. Name the leaves.

12.In his childhood days, the servant Shyam, who looked after the poet, would make him sit on a window sill from where he could see the world outside for hours. There was a big pond where men and children bathed and women fetched water from. Ducks swam leisurely. Next to the pond was a big tree which was visited by many birds. Later he wrote a poem on this tree which has these lines: Lutiye pare jatil jata, Ghana patar gahan ghata/ Hethay hothay rabir chhata.… Name the tree.

13.The poet’s “notun bouthan” Kadambari Devi made a beautiful garden on their dakshiner baranda with potted plants. The garden was mainly of scented white flowers like rajanigandha, jui, bela, mallika etc. In the literary gatherings in the evenings, where the poet also read his poems, natun bouthan used to place a silver plate of fresh belphul covered with a wet cloth, the fragrance creating a serene ambience. What was this garden named?

14Tagore’s fascination for flowers can be seen in his detailed description of varieties of flowers, garden flowers, wild flowers and also flowers from distant lands. Next to the lotus, his favourite flower was a sweet-scented white flower, especially when it was rain-soaked. He also admired garlands of this flower. Identify the flower.

Answers

1. Simool (Bombax ceiba)
2. Piyal (Buchanania latifolia). The song is Oi Malati lata dole, Piyal tarur kole
3. Tamal (Garcinia xanthochymus)
4. Brothers: Champa (Michelia champaca)
Sister: Parul (Stereospermum suavesleous)
Sat-ti champa phuler gachhe sat-ti champa bhai/ Ranga basan parul didi, tulana tar nai.
5. Camellia
6. Shefali (Shiuli) (Nyctanthes arbortristis)
7. Ashok (Saraca indica)
8. Kontikari (Solanum suratensi)
9. Kurchi or Kutaj (Holarrhena antidysenterica)
10. Milletia (Milletia peguensis) and Gmelina or Melina (Gmelina philippensis)
11. Keyapata (Pandanus odaratissimus)
12. Bot (Ficus benghalensis)
13. Nandan Kanan.
14. Juin or Juthika (Jasminum auriculatum)