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 is the central idea of the poem?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 3
The correct answer is Option (3) → the way a rainy evening without power brings a family close together
The poem follows one family through a rainy evening when the power goes out.
- The lights go out and the phones are dead. Ma lights a lantern, and the family “sits together in one ring of light”.
- Dadaji tells an old story, and everyone listens while the rain drums on the roof.
- When the lights come back, “Nobody moves”. They want to stay together and listen to the rain.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: the damage that heavy monsoon rain does to small homes — Incorrect. Not mentioned: The rain does no damage. The flood is only an old story from “the year the river came up to our door”.
Option 2: the boredom of a long evening without electricity — Incorrect. Contradicted: The family enjoys the evening. When the lights come back, nobody gets up.
Option 4: the old flood stories that grandparents like to tell — Incorrect. Too narrow: Dadaji’s story fills only one stanza. It is one part of the family’s evening together.