Read the poem and answer the questions given below it.
Rain on the Tin Roof
At six the sky above our town turns grey,
and the first big drops come down, slow and few:
plink on the tin, then plonk, then plink again,
until the roof is drumming through and through.
The fan slows down; the lights go out next door,
and then our own. Ma strikes a single match.
The lantern shows our faces, gold and still,
while the wind keeps tugging at the window latch.
Our phones are dead; the TV screen is black.
No one will hear the cricket score tonight.
For once the house forgets its little screens
and sits together in one ring of light.
Dadaji tells the story of the flood,
the year the river came up to our door;
the roof keeps time above him all the while,
and we have heard it twenty times before.
By ten the roar has softened to a hum
that lulls my little sister where she lies.
The lights come on again. Nobody moves.
We listen to the rain with half-closed eyes.
What does the line “For once the house forgets its little screens” mean?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → For one evening the family is busy with one another, not with phones and TV.
“The house” here means the family living in it. “Its little screens” are the phones and the TV.
- The power is gone: “Our phones are dead; the TV screen is black.”
- “For once” shows that this does not happen often. Instead of the screens, the family “sits together in one ring of light”.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: The family has lost its phones somewhere in the dark house. — Incorrect. Misread: “Forgets” does not mean the phones are lost. The phones are only “dead” because there is no power.
Option 2: The old house has no room for modern gadgets like phones. — Incorrect. Not mentioned: The family has phones and a TV. The poem never says the house is too old for them.
Option 3: The family is upset that the phones and TV will not work. — Incorrect. Contradicted: No one complains. When the lights come back, “Nobody moves” to go back to the screens.