Class 5 English Santoor Chapter 9 PDF: Vocation

Chapter 9 of Class 5 English Santoor (Unit 5: Work) presents Rabindranath Tagore’s immortal free-verse poem Vocation. Looking out at the world at three different times of day — morning on the way to school, four in the afternoon returning home, and nighttime from his bed — a young child admires the bangle-hawker, the gardener, and the night watchman, wishing for their apparent freedom from rules and timetables.

What Class 5 English Chapter 9 Covers

Morning (10 o’clock) — The Bangle Hawker — When the gong sounds ten in the morning and the child walks to school along the lane, he meets the hawker crying, ‘Bangles, crystal bangles!’ With nothing to hurry him on, no fixed road he must take, and no set time to return home, the child wishes he were a hawker.

Afternoon (4 o’clock) — The Gardener — Coming back from school at four in the afternoon, the child peers through the gate of a house and sees the gardener digging the ground with his spade. He soils his clothes with dust, gets baked in the sun or wet in the rain, and nobody scolds him — making the child wish he were a gardener.

Evening & Night — The Watchman — Just as it gets dark in the evening and his mother sends him to bed, the child sees the watchman through the open window walking up and down the dark, lonely street with his swinging lantern and giant shadow. Chasing shadows all night without ever having to go to sleep, the watchman becomes the child’s third dream vocation.

Theme — Childhood Innocence & Respect for Every Profession — Tagore captures a child’s innocent longing for freedom from strict schedules while inspiring readers to notice and respect the everyday workers who keep communities running.

Exercises in Chapter 9

• Let us Think & Speak: Complete the table comparing the times of day, the three workers (hawker, gardener, watchman), their tools/actions, and why the child wishes to be each one; discuss the real hard work behind each vocation.
• Let us Learn, Listen & Write: Learn vocabulary of occupations and professions (mason, carpenter, potter, electrician, architect), practice sensory imagery, and write a short paragraph on what vocation you want to pursue and why.

Read Class 5 English Chapter 9 Online

More Chapters

• Previous: Chapter 8: The Decision of the Panchayat
• Next: Chapter 10: Glass Bangles
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FAQ

Who is the poet of ‘Vocation’ in Class 5 English Santoor?
The poem ‘Vocation’ was written by Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore (from his collection The Crescent Moon).

Why does the child in the poem want to be a hawker, a gardener, and a watchman?
To the child, bound by school bells, neat clothes, and bedtime rules, the hawker seems free to wander any road, the gardener is free to dig in the dirt without being scolded, and the watchman is free to stay awake all night with his lantern.

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