Read the poem and answer the questions given below it.
The Banyan at the Bus Stand
Where our village road ends at the bus stand,
the old banyan lets its grey roots fall.
I sit on the cement ring round its trunk
with a tin of laddoos and my woollen shawl.
The air smells of diesel and roasted gram,
of jasmine strings on a flower-seller’s tray,
of figs gone ripe and sweet among the roots,
of the wet road, sprinkled at the close of day.
Brides have climbed on buses here and cried,
boys with tin trunks have left for the town,
and soldiers home on leave have jumped down
to mothers waiting at the banyan’s side.
Old tree, you saw my son leave in June
with his father’s watch and a new black bag.
Now the six o’clock bus is late again,
I pull my shawl close and the minutes drag.
Then lights swing in through your hanging roots,
a horn, a cloud of dust, and a tall
young man steps down, looking round for me,
while your old leaves hold still above us all.
Which kind of imagery is used in the following lines?
“The air smells of diesel and roasted gram,
of jasmine strings on a flower-seller’s tray,
of figs gone ripe and sweet among the roots”
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 2
The correct answer is Option (2) → Olfactory imagery (smell)
Olfactory imagery uses words that help us smell a scene.
- The lines begin with “The air smells of”, and every thing that follows is a smell.
- We smell “diesel” from the buses, “roasted gram”, “jasmine strings” and figs gone “ripe and sweet”. Example: The smell of fresh rain on dry earth came in through the window.
Why the Other Options are Incorrect?
Option 1: Visual imagery (sight) — Incorrect. Visual imagery helps us see something, such as colours, light or shapes. Example: Red and yellow kites filled the evening sky.
Option 3: Auditory imagery (sound) — Incorrect. Auditory imagery helps us hear something. Example: We heard the rattle of the shutters and the bark of a dog.
Option 4: Tactile imagery (touch) — Incorrect. Tactile imagery helps us feel something on the skin, such as heat, cold or roughness. Example: The hot sand burnt the soles of my feet.